Too Much of a Burden to Bear
by inactiveacountinactive
Summary: 'Just why did I have to go and waste my life for you? You're not even close to being my friend! And, on top of that, you're an UCHIHA' '...' 'Oh, you... you're crying... *sigh* Come here.' ItachixOc ItaOc Itachi oc, KakashixOC Kakaoc Kakashi oc Kashioc
1. Hyuuga Hitomi

Looking back on my life now, I'd say it was pretty messed up. One of my first real memories wasn't a happy one. It was the day I received a curse seal because I was a member of the Hyuuga Branch family. Stupid divided families. I am certain the branch part of the family was much more talented than the main part. Then again, I can be pretty arrogant. I guess… Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore, I'm about to die anyway… I always wondered what my live would have been like if I hadn't done that stupid, stupid thing. But then again, I guess that he often wondered that too. Only for him it wasn't stupid. It were orders, and he had no choice but to obey. I guess, if I hadn't done it, I might would have been able to change the way of my clan. I would have been able to be there for my baby brother… And maybe, just maybe, I would have been able to prevent my father's death. Then again, probably not. I was so stupid. But, if someone gave me the chance to go back. To change what I've done. I would say 'no'. because no one, no one, should have to bear a burden like that on their own.

'sigh…'

It probably all started when I met him… or maybe when I accidentally stalked him… Oh, well, you can decide…

* * *

><p><strong>so, guys, this is the prologue of my new story. Whatcha think? hope you like it =3<strong>

**Anyway, please, please, R&R, because you have no idea how much of a motivation blast it gives me =]  
>And, erm, yeah. I really hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it =D<br>**

**x, Faith Bell.**


	2. Uchiha Itachi

'Hitomi-chan~, come down stairs please, you're going to meet someone special!' I heard my father shout, 'I'm coming dad!' I shouted back. I quickly tied the bottom of my hair together, so that it looked like a very low hanging ponytail. Or something like that. Once my hair was fixed, I jumped down the stairs and landed neatly next to my dad. He bent down and gave me a bear hug, whispering to me, 'Hitomi-chan, you're going to meet Uchiha Fugaku and his son, Uchiha Itachi,' he paused for a second before continuing, 'Please be polite.' I freed myself from his grasp and nodded, my head bouncing up and down, to show I understood. 'good,' he told me, 'now, my little flower, please follow me.' He stood up and we walked out of the door. On the other side my uncle was waiting. I never really liked my uncle. He is mean. Right, so we started walking towards the Uchiha compound. It was on the other darn side of the village. My dad was pretty silent during the trip and so was my uncle. I decided to stick with silence as well.

When we arrived at the other compound there were two people waiting for us. One tall man and one tall boy. They were both pretty tall for their age I guess… Well, at least the boy was tall for his age, I mean the man was probably just tall and… never mind. I'm babbling again. When we came closer to the pair I saw that I was wrong. The boy wasn't all that tall, he was a little taller than me, but that didn't say anything, since I was pretty small. The man was still pretty tall, but I guess all grown ups are tall. Do you think I rant too much?

Anywho, when we were a few foot away from each other, my father and uncle suddenly stopped. I quickly did the same thing. He had long black hair tied in a low ponytail. Though mine was way lower, and it wasn't really a pony tail… but that's besides the point.

'Hello, Fugaku-sama.' My father said, with a bow, my uncle just nodded at him. Fugaku just nodded back. I had to repress the urge to roll my eyes. It was obvious they'd like nothing more than to jump at each other's throats. They probably would have, if Itachi and me weren't here. 'Fugaku-san,' my uncle began in his usual cold voice, 'Allow me to introduce my niece, the most talented of our clan, at this moment, Hyuuga Hitomi.' I thought I could hear the Uchiha kid snort. I knew my name was stupid, who names their pupil-less child Hitomi? But that didn't mean I liked him making fun of my name. 'Yeah, because Itachi is a better name, Weasel!' oops. I probably shouldn't have said that… to my surprise the Uchiha kid didn't look angry at all, just amused. The rest of them were angry, well, my dad just face-palmed, but uncle had a very angry and shocked look on his face, so did the Fugaku-guy. I trotted a few feet away with my back facing the small group of people. I came to regret that decision almost instantly, as my uncle had recovered from his shock and was now ruining my brain cells. And trust me, that hurt.

I fell to the ground, screaming. Tears running dow my face as I continued to scream. My father stepped towards the guy that's supposed to be my uncle. 'Hiashi-sama! Please, stop it!' after a moment it stopped, I was still sobbing on the ground.

Slowly, I stood up and glanced at the small group of people. Hiashi-sama still looked pretty angry and my father just looked very worried. The Uchiha clan leader had a stern, cold look on his face and Itachi just looked shocked. 'I-I'm going to look for Minato and his team!' I said weakly, and without waiting for an answer I turned around and ran off. God, did my head hurt.

I ran towards training ground 3 as fast as my legs could carry me. When I arrived I saw Minato's golden hair first and I tackled him in a hug. Well, I probably saw Kakashi's Silver hair first, but he was mean, so that didn't matter. I ended up sobbing in Minato's chest, while he tried to comfort me. He whispered soothing words, and slowly I regained control of my sobbing again. 'I-I'm sorry Minato… I g-guess I messed up your vest…' Minato looked down at his vest and grimaced when he saw the wet snotty stain, where my face had been moments before. He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, 'That's okay. But, Hitomi-chan, what happened?'

'Yeah!, Obito piped in, 'I'll beat up whoever made you cry, Hitomi-chan!' I was about to thank him and say something along the lines of 'you're the only nice Uchiha around here' when Kakashi ruined the moment. 'Like you could' was his sarcastic remark, which lead to yet another fight between the two. Just as Rin was about to scold them on their childish behavior, I spoke up, 'You're even worse than the weasel-guy, Kakashi!'

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, 'Weasel-guy?' Obito, who looked a bit pale, asked, 'You don't mean Itachi, do you?' I nodded yes. 'Uuuhhmm… and… was he the one that made you cry?' I shook my head, and Obito let out a sigh of relief. Kakashi was about to make another sarcastic remark, but his sensei shot him a warning look before turning towards me again. 'So, what exactly happened, Hitomi-chan?'

I gulped and sighed a deep sigh, before continuing (starting really) with my story, 'Well, daddy and Hiashi-sama took me to meet Fugaku-sama and Itachi-weasel, but he laughed at my name,' Obito turned a bit red at this, since he had had the exact same reaction when we'd first met, 'so I told him Weasel was a stupid name too. But then Hiashi-sama got mad and… well… you know…' my voice trailed of and I reached towards my forehead, which still hurt. A lot.

Minato's students all looked confused, obviously not knowing what 'you know…' was. But Minato himself just looked very, very worried. 'He did? I am going to talk to the Hokage about this! They really shouldn't allow that on kids! We should take you to the hospital! Someone needs to take a lo-' 'Minato, I'm fine,' I interrupted him, 'really.' He looked at me with those startling blue eyes of his and shook his head and let out a deep sigh, 'If you really think you're okay… But you do need to get home and probably take some aspirin.' He turned towards his students and resumed talking, 'You guys go home, take the day off. I really should take Hitomi-chan to her house. She can't go by herself, in her… condition?' he finished, making it sound more like a question than an order.

Kakashi and Rin made move towards the village, but Obito didn't move at all. 'What do you mean "condition", sensei?' He asked, the other two now lingering too. But the stern and serious look of their sensei made them walk. 'Later, guys.' They all answered with a short 'Hai!' and jumped off. Minato turned to me once again, 'You sure you're okay, Hitomi-chan?' I shook my head, now that the others were gone I didn't feel the need to keep a strong face, and tears started to stream down my cheeks once again, 'No. I'm not okay! Why does he do that? Why? I'm his family, right? You're supposed to protect family! Not… not destroy them.'

* * *

><p>After that I remember waking up on Minato's couch with a frantic Kushina scurrying about, not many people knew she could be that protective. But, seeing as she usually scared the crap out of people that kinda made sense. I always thought of it as sweet, though.<p>

I guess it is strange I don't remember exactly how I met Minato. I remember bits of it. You know, small fragments that seem like they were cut out of those old movies, with bad sound and bad visuals. I became very close with Minato, Obito and Rin. Not with Kakashi, I wanted to, but he just didn't seem to let people get close to him. Although that did change when Obito… When he died. After that Kakashi started opening up some more. Rin didn't, Rin just started to work her ass off at the hospital as means to deal with her grief. And Minato, well, he was also working his ass off, he was Hokage to be, after all.

Back too Obito. Obito really was a good friend of mine. I never really knew what his relationship with Itachi was; I guess I just kind of figured they didn't see much of each other. Still, I think Obito's funeral was the first time I spoke to him, after our quite disastrous meeting. A couple of years had past and me and Itachi were 7 at the time…


	3. Uchiha Obito

I can still remember how it had been when they came back. I had been waiting for them, anxious to see Obito-chan and Minato again. I still remember the feeling of shock, utter shock, as if the blood just froze in my veins, when only three people returned. First I had denied that he was dead, when Minato carefully told me. I insisted he was just late as always, or that he had perhaps tripped in his usual clumsiness and was catching up. I guess I'd been real frantic at first, but when I finally realized he was really gone all I could do was burst out in tears and cry.

When I woke up next morning I felt empty and my head felt as if it was about to split in too. Spending the entire night crying could do that for a person. I didn't understand how they could have let Obito-chan die. I think my anger was mainly directed at Rin. If she had enough chakra left to transplant Obito-chan's Sharingan, then why didn't she just heal him? I think, I thought it was because Rin loved Kakashi. I thought Rin had let Obito-chan die, to give Kakashi the Sharingan. Of course, this wasn't true. There was nothing that could possibly have saved Obito after he'd been crushed by that rock. But I needed to blame someone. To be angry with someone. I was just a kid, after all.

I slowly made my way over to the wardrobe and put on my black suit. It was traditionally made for funerals. I thought it was stupid to make clothes for funerals. A person making profit from other person's death was ridiculous and cruel and just plain stupid. But then again, I thought everything was stupid at that moment.

I stalked down stairs, not bothering to greet my parents. I'm sure they understood though. I was nearing the gates when I heard a voice behind me. 'Where do you think you are going, Hitomi?' great. Just great. The horrid man who called himself my uncle stood behind me, his ever-present frown on his face. 'I'm going to Obito-chan's funeral.' I replied in a voice, void of all emotion. Something you learn to do really quick, being part of the Hyuuga clan and all. His frown turned very disapproving, 'You are not going to the funeral of an Uchiha.' 'What? Why? He was my friend!' I screamed at him. Loosing all patience I'd had. And trust me, it wasn't much. Just as my "uncle" was about to reply, the yondaime Hokage, who had been dubbed so just the day before, appeared at the gate. My uncle turned to the current leader of Konoha 'Hokage-sama, may I ask why you are here?' he asked in his cold, stern voice. God, did I hate that voice. The golden haired shinobi replied in a tone almost as cold as Hiashi's 'I believe you just did, but I will answer your question. I am here to pick up Hitomi-chan for Obito-kun's funeral.'

I let out a breath of relief I didn't know I was holding when Minato and I walked away from the Hyuuga compound, leaving a very angry looking Hiashi behind. 'Thanks Minato-sama, I don't think he would have let me go if you wouldn't have come.' He turned towards me, a sad little smile upon his face, 'That's why I decided to come and pick you up, Hitomi-chan' after a moments pause he looked at me again, 'Obito-kun wanted me to tell you something.' My head whipped around to look at him, maybe a little to fast, 'What did he say?' Yondaime paused and looked at me again, 'Never falter on your path of the ninja, fight for what you believe is right, and that he would always be watching over you.' There were a few moments of silence as we walked towards the memorial stone, the place of the funeral. 'Thanks for telling me, Minato-sama.' That sad little smile appeared on his face again as he looked at me, 'That's okay, Hitomi-chan, and please, drop the "-sama" it makes me feel old.' I would have laughed if the situation had been any different. But it wasn't, so I didn't laugh.

We continued the rest of the walk in silence.

When we arrived at the memorial stone, the place of the funeral, it was rather obvious that it was a closed one. There were only Uchiha's except for Kakashi, The Hokage, the girl that had let Obito die – although I didn't know what she was doing here – and me. I walked over to Kakashi after glaring at Rin for a bit. I noticed a bit to late that Kakashi was standing next to Itachi and his dad. Damn. I really didn't want to deal with them right now. From the corner of my eye I saw Fugaku-sama chose to glare at me with a very disapproving frown. I chose to ignore him.

Minato stepped forwards to say some words. I really didn't take any notice of them. I just kept replaying and replaying the happy times I'd had with Obito in my head. There were so many. That one time after my first meeting with Itachi stood out most vividly. It was strange to think he'd been scared of Itachi. Was he really that powerful? It didn't matter right now and I thought about the happy times with Obito. He had always been so nice to me…

Without really realizing it, tears started to fall down my pale cheeks and soft sobs escaped my lips. Itachi looked at me, brows raised. 'Why are you crying?' I didn't understand this question. 'What?' I asked stupidly, 'Why are you crying?' he repeated. 'Because he was my friend, Weasel!' I practically shouted at him, feeling a lot – and I mean a lot – of disapproving stares boring holes in my back. I guess not many people approved of me… Tears were now streaming down my face and I didn't even notice the comforting hand Kakashi had placed on my shoulder. 'Hn, figures, you're both idiots.' 'Shut it, Uchiha.' Kakashi's cold reply had cut me off before I could even answer. 'Oh, think you can go against the Uchiha now that you have that eye, Hatake?' luckily, Minato chose that moment to come between them and to tell them to 'Shut up' because they were at 'A funeral'. Kakashi just nodded, averting his eyes and although Itachi didn't really look like he wanted to obey, but he was talking to the Hokage, so what choice did he have, really?

When that small "exchange" was over I walked away from the people who had gathered at the funeral and sought a quiet place at the edge off the crowd, sending Rin a fierce glare on my way there. _Yeah, I used to be stupid all right._

I stayed there for the remainder of the funeral. Slowly it started to rain, and everyone started to go home. To warm and safe places, where they didn't have to be reminded of the death of a family member, or a friend. Cowards. Although I doubt the Uchiha ever thought of each other as friends. They were more like useful battle partners. When nearly everyone had gone, only Kakashi, weasel and I remained. Minato would have stayed too, but he had "hokage business" to attend to. And I honestly didn't know when and where Rin had disappeared to…

'Why are you still here, Weasel?' I asked, my throat feeling sore from all the crying. Even though my back was facing them, I could feel both Kakashi and Itachi looking at me. 'What?' the ignorant child version of me, asked the two of them. 'He was my friend, too.' Was all Itachi said. And that was all he needed to say, really. Especially with him glaring at me with that cold glare of his. Especially especially because his Sharingan was activated and really creeping me out. I quickly looked away. 'Oh… well… I have to get going. Bye.' With that I stood up and stalked off into the darkness.

* * *

><p>You know, sometimes I can't believe how much of a fool I made out of myself. Although, if anyone were to ask me if I could go back in time, to change something and what it would be, I'd answer 'nothing'. Because every single thing that has happened in my life has made me into the person I am. The person that is laying here, dying… god, this sounds so… so angsty. And cheesy. But it doesn't really matter, after my little trip down memory lane, I will be able to see him again… and my dad. Yes, I really need to apologize to my dad…<p>

But, anywho, the next thing flashing before my eyes was something that didn't involve him. But it did involve my dad. Something like that is what I would call a bittersweet memory. Yes, that is definitely a bittersweet memory.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello, my dear sweet readers and especially my dear sweet reviewers! ('cuz I like reviews... *hint hint*)<strong>

**Anywho, I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated. Because it has been long, and if I had been reading this story I would [probably have forgotten all about it...**

**yeah.**

**So! I hope you can forgive me! I'm updating the next chapter very soon! It's almost done! Yay~**

**X, Faith Bell.**

**ps, This story is dedicated to Drake-chan! AKA burningxdrake. For her B-day (which was on aug 2nd) and because I like her. She's sweet and she makes me laugh with iStones. Hope you enjoy this, Drake-chan~ 3  
>pps, Check out the "Hall of Fame" on my profile. Especially if you're a reviewer!<strong>  
><strong>ppps, seriously, why do I keep saying "especially"?<strong>


	4. Hyuuga Neji

'Minato! Minato!' I screamed while running towards the Hokage office. Another 'Minato!' as I burst through the door, 'I have amazi-' I suddenly stopped when I saw that the room was currently occupied with no one less then my uncle and one of the elders of the Hyuuga clan. Minato's head turned towards me, and a small smile played on his lips, but his eyes remained sad looking. 'Hitomi-chan, why don't you go see your father in the hospital? We'll follow you after we've… discussed some things.' The smile didn't quite reach his eyes, they stayed calm and serious, missing the twinkling spark they usually carried. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Something was wrong. But when I asked Minato what it was, he just told me to go, with a sad look on his face. For a moment I even thought the Hyuuga elder and Hiashi had pitying looks on their faces. But just for a moment. Hmm… nah, I imagined it. 'Well, okay… then… I'll just go now… bye.' I said as I awkwardly closed the door behind me.

I sighed, and used Minato's flying thundergod technique to teleport into the hospital room. I had given a seal to my father earlier on. 'Hi daddy! Where's Neji-nii? Is he alright?' I asked him hastily, hoping with everything I had in me that the answer would be 'yes'. My father just nodded his had solemnly. 'Dad, is something wrong?' I asked him cautiously, the sinking feeling in my stomach only intensifying. He sighed a heavy sigh and I could see a tear trickling down his check. 'Daddy, what's wrong?' I asked him again, this time with evident fear in my voice. 'I- it's your mommy, she- she-' he wasn't able to find the right words and closed his eyes for a while before trying again, 'she's gone.'

My stomach dropped at least 100 meters when he said that. My brain froze, just like the rest of my body. My breath caught in my throat. What? My mum? Gone? No, no, that wasn't true. He was just making a joke, a very annoying not funny joke. 'Daddy, it's not funny.' I told him, my voice sounding a bit to desperate to convince anyone I really thought it only was a joke. 'Hitomi-chan… she's gone.' He said, looking me right in the eye. I drew a shaky breath before running to hug him. We stood like that for a long time, hanging on to each other as if we were hanging on to her. I could feel the tears running down my father's face and dropping on the top of my head. I refused to cry, though. I did everything I could to keep the tears inside. After a while I broke the hug. 'Dad, where is Neji-nii?' 'He's next door, sleeping.' Was his soft reply, and to my relief he now had a smile on his face, 'he's beautiful.' 'Can I see him?' 'Of course you can, come along.'

We entered a room full of babies. I recognized Neji-nii immediately; he was next to the wall with the window in it, his big, lavender, pupil-less eyes staring right at us. I walked towards him and picked him up, hugging him close to my body. He closed his eyes and snuggled up to me. I couldn't help but smile. He was the most adorable child I had ever seen. I wondered what he would look like when he was grown up, if he would have daddy's face or mum's hair.

Mum…

Tears welled up behind my eyes again, but I fought against them best I could. I wouldn't show any weakness. Then I heard my father's voice, 'It's alright to cry, Hitomi-chan.' I shook my head softly, as not to wake up Neji-nii, who had just fallen asleep. 'No. No I can't. I have to be strong, for Neji-nii.' I said resolutely. My dad smiled again, 'You're very brave, Hitomi-chan.' He told me. Then he hugged me and left the room he said he to talk to the Hokage. I just nodded and let him go.

I don't know how long I sat there with Neji-nii, just sitting and humming and just feeling content with being there, but it must have been a long time. When I looked outside it was already dark. I didn't really care. I just continued sitting there, with my little brother, when finally a nurse came to tell me that I really had to go home because visiting hours were over and other nonsense. I listened, though. I still wanted to see Minato-chan. I left Neji-nii in the Nurse's care and headed for Hokage tower, hoping that Minato-chan was still there. Without the stupid advisors, though.

This time I knocked on the door, not wanting to interrupt something again. I heard an annoyed 'come in.' from the other side of the door and couldn't hide a small smirk. He must think I'm his assistant or something… I quickly altered my voice with chakra, to sound like a middle aged woman, 'Hokage-sama, the fire Daimyo wants to organize a meeting between Konohagakure no sato and Sunagakure no sato, apparently Sunagakure has done something bad again and he isn't sure if the truce will hold. And could you please open that door for me? I've got way too much paperwork to reach the handle.' He grumbled a lot of colourful swearwords and something along the lines of wanting to be home early to see Kushina-chan. I had huge trouble containing my laughter and when the door's burst open and I saw the look on his face when he realized it was only me, I practically fell to the floor laughing. He sighed, turned around, and entered his office again, leaving me on the ground. I quickly got up and also entered the office, before he could slam the door in my face.

'I'm glad to see you're happy as ever, Hitomi-chan.' Minato-chan told me with a somewhat stern look on his face. I pouted, 'What's wrong, Minato-chan? Normally you would have at least smiled at something like that…' He sighed, 'I know… and I'm sorry. I'm just really stressed out. Kushina-chan hasn't been feeling to well lately… And to be frank, I didn't really expect you to be so, erm, cheerful.' I nodded and walked forward to sit in the chair that stood in front of his desk, 'I know… It's just, I can't cry.' Minato-chan looked at me with a worried look on his face, 'You can't cry? It's unhealthy to keep all of your emotions inside, you know.' I nodded again, 'Yeah, I know. It's just, I have to be strong. For Neji-nii.' I told him, a big smile on my face now. He shook his head, a small smile on his face too, 'I'm sure you'll make an excellent big sister.'

* * *

><p>Yep, definitely a bittersweet memory. I lost my mum, but I gained one of the most important and precious people I would ever have in my life. And don't get me wrong; I loved my mother, a lot. It was just that when I was hugging my dad, I imagined – in all my 8-year-old wisdom – how lonely it must be to grow up without a mother. Without someone to support you, to be there for you, to sing to you when you can't sleep at night. So I decided I would do that for Neji-nii. I would be there for him, I would support him and I would sing to him when he couldn't sleep at night. And I didn't think I would make a great start by crying. He, pretty selfless for an 8-year-old…<p>

And what Minato-chan said about Kushina-chan not feeling to well. She was suffering from morning sickness. Yes, she was pregnant with the boy who would become a legend, Uzumaki Naruto. Although his birth was one of the saddest memories I have…

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys!<br>I know it's been forever since I updated, but that was because of a holiday in Morocco! It was soo much fun...  
>But, yeah. Sorry.<br>Also, this chapter was a bit short, as some of you might notice. The only reason is because I couldn't think of a better ending for this chapter .  
>The next chapter will be at least two times the amount of words, so please look foreward to it!<strong>

**X, Faith Bell.**


	5. Namikaze Minato

I was playing with Neji – trying to get him to focus chakra on one point and failing miserably – when the door suddenly slammed open. In the door opening stood none other than Uchiha Itachi. What the hell was that punk doing in our house? Forget our house, why the hell is he on the Hyuuga compound? Is he even allowed to be here? I picked up Neji and brought him to his bed, he needed some sleep anyway. Babies have the tiniest chakra supplies _and_ they have zero stamina. After making sure he was safe and sound I turned back to the Uchiha who was still standing on the doorstep of my house.

'What do you want, Uchiha?' I asked him, not to politely. He sighed, as if he really didn't want to say what he was about to. '_We _are needed in the Hokage's office.' He told me, obvious disgust in the "we". I tch'ed, 'Well, let's get going then, Uchiha.' And so we left the house, and the compound on our way to Minato's office.

'So, any idea what this is about, Uchiha?' I asked him. Itachi closed his eyes for a moment – I was obviously wearing on his patience. 'Even if I did, I wouldn't tell _you_, Hyuuga.' He replied, and I was certain he sounded way calmer than he was actually feeling. Also, I got the distinct urge to smack him. In the face, over the head, it didn't matter, really – he was just being _so_ incredibly annoying.

When we finally arrived at Minato's office, Itachi raised his hand to knock on the door, but I ignored this gesture and just swung the door wide open, barging in rather rudely. Not that I cared, nor did Minato – usually. This time however he looked up from his work, agitated at that, and asked us what the hell it was we wanted. When he realized it was us, he immediately regained his calm demeanor and greeted us with a cheery smile.

'Oh, hehe, sorry about that.' He said, sheepishly. 'Right. I guess you're wondering why I called _you two_ here?' Minato asked, and we could both tell that he did not mean why we were here at the moment as much as the two of us together.

_Hyuugas and Uchihas do not mix well. _Everyone knows that…

I nodded my head furiously, while Itachi just hn'ed. Really, do they need to do that? I'm starting to think that if they don't use that syllable at least ten times a day, they'll die from nervous spasms… 'Okay then, the two of you are going on a mission together, to the south border of the land of fire. There have been rumours that Special Jounin – and higher – level Iwa-nin are trying to invade the border with a new kind of weapon. This is an S-rank-' 'WHAT?' I interrupted him, again being rather rude. Forget that, I was being incredibly rude, 'Why can't Kakashi come with me? Why does it have to be _that _Uchiha?' I thought I saw a flicker of emotion on the Uchiha's face, either irritation or frustration or both, but it vanished to fast for me to identify. And that was saying a lot, seeing as nowadays I could read my uncle like an open book. Minato let out a long, tired sigh before attempting to continue, 'because, it will be the perfect occasion to see how the Sharingan and Byakugan work together. You are the most powerful – and available – ninja's from your respective clans, so it would only be logical to send the both of you. And besides, Kakashi is supposed to protect Kushina-chan. She is due this week. On top of that all our other Jounin ar-' 'No fucking way!' I interrupted him. Again. And in a very rude manner. Again. 'Does that mean I'm going to miss the moment Naruto enters this world?'

Minato shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed. The Uchiha still looked utterly unfazed. 'You may be able to make it back in time. All you have to do is ambush the Iwa shinobi, take one of them hostage and kill the rest of them. Since it's on the border of the fire country you could make the journey in half a day.' I nodded, my head wildly bobbing up and down. 'Come on Uchiha, we're going to pack _right now_!' 'Now?' he questioned me, quirking a brow. 'Yes, _now_. And as soon as we're done, we're leaving.' 'Erm… are you sure that's a good idea, Hitomi-chan? It would be wiser to get some rest first.' Minato told me innocently. I turned my head to him, murderous expression currently on it. 'Of course I'm fucking sure! There is no way in hell I'm going to miss the birth of your first child! Now, packing time!' I shouted, turning around and storming out of the door, before realizing I could also flicker myself there. Which I immediately did, as soon as I came to that realization.

I appeared again before the gates of my house. I didn't bother knocking on the door and just jumped through my bedroom window instead. I could hear my dad rummaging about downstairs, but I ignored him and started to throw whatever I thought I might need into a bag.

I was finally down to packing extra weapons and such when my dad came in, 'Why are you in such a rush?' he questioned me. 'If we don't hurry up we may miss the moment when Naruto comes popping out of Kushina-chan!' I shouted back, flailing my arms around frantically, as if it would make my point more understandable. 'Okay, okay, point taken!' my dad said, hands raised in the air in a defensive position. This confused me, before I realized I'd been swinging the Katana that was still occupying my hand in his face. 'Oops, sorry dad.' I apologized quickly, before seething my Katana and strapping it over my bag. 'So it's going to be a long term mission?' he asked me, still a good distance away in case I decided to randomly swing other weapons at him. I shrugged, 'Nah, will probably just take a couple of days. But Kushina-chan is due this week!'

My father smiled at me, 'Well, you'd better hurry up then.' I smiled back and gave him a quick hug, before jumping out of the window I just came through and making my way back to Minato's office. When I was nearly there, however, I realized I had forgotten to kiss Neji-nii goodbye, and immediately flickered back into my house. I ran into the room where I had put Neji-nii to sleep earlier and gave him a quick, but gentle kiss on his forehead. A slight pang of fury rushed through me. That was the place where he'd be getting a curse-seal in a couple of years. A seal that would steal away his freedom and cage him, forced to do whatever the hell the main family wanted him to do. Shaking my head to clear myself of those thoughts and to be able to concentrate on the mission ahead, I flickered out of there and into Minato's office. I was absolutely infuriated to see that Itachi was already there, and fully packed at that.

Now this in itself wasn't really infuriating, what _was_ infuriating however, was the fucking smirk on his face! God, I hated Uchiha smirks. Seriously, they are even worse than Hyuuga smirks. Back to business. Minato told us a couple of more things we needed to know about the mission, and off we were.

* * *

><p>I was trying to remember the mission, honestly, but it was so long ago and so uneventful that every sensation that came with it has slipped my mind for good. The one thing I vividly remember, though, is the sensation of pure horror and fear on our way back, when we saw the huge monstrous form of the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacking Konoha. The village hidden in the leafs, our village, the village where everyone we loved were, and probably dying right now. I remember it was the first time that I agreed with Itachi and after one quick fearful glance at one another we sped off towards the thing that was jeopardizing the lives of the ones we loved.<p>

* * *

><p>The closer we came to that monster, the quicker the landscapes changed. We ran out of the lush forest we'd leisurely been walking through beforehand and into fields that had bits of wood, charred and splintered alike, everywhere. As we advanced even closer on the thing, the wood began to disappear, only to be replaced with bodies. Lifeless bodies, some of which I recognized. I saw Takuta-sensei, he had been Hana-chan's sensei when she first joined a genin team. A heavy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach, probably a mix of dread and trying not to let grief and fear overwhelm you as you concentrate on the task ahead.<p>

All of a sudden, the giant fox whipped its head around and look right at us. What the hell? It could have been that he had sensed us, of course, but to go as far as turning around to face us in the midst of battle, what was going on? That thought was running through my head along with the fear, which was intensifying by the minute. This thing was huge and obviously incredibly powerful. I had heard stories about other tailed beasts attacking other villages, but never had I seen one of them before, and neither had I expected to. We were still advancing on it, slower than before, but I was still set on doing as much damage as I could.

Again, I found myself wondering why it had come to Konoha. Last I had heard of it, it had been spotted somewhere in the shadow country. Not really close, if you know what I mean. All these thoughts were wiped from my head however, as I saw a glimmer of the Sharingan in its eyes. 'Wha-' I managed to utter before it opened its gigantic jaws wide, and started concentrating chakra into what looked like a gigantic black ball. I was just starting to think it looked like a gigantic black Rasengan, one of Minato's techniques, when he released it and it came hurling at us with unfathomable speed. 'Uchiha, behind me!' I roared, not pausing to check if he did as I told him. If he ignored me and was hit by that giant dangerous looking black thing, it would be his own fault, really. As fast as I could possibly manage I gathered some chakra in my chakra points and began spinning around, shouting 'Kaiten!' for whatever fool who was able to hear me.

As our jutsu's clashed, it became harder and harder to maintain it. I thought I was doing pretty well, until the black bubble was diminished to its core. What happened next was _not_ pretty. A gigantic explosion filled the nights air, which was already tainted with cries, from battle, from pain and from grief. I felt myself flying backwards and thought I heard a faint cry of my name by certain mister Uchiha. That was very improbable, though. Again, I didn't have time to contemplate my thoughts as I crashed into stone, and fell to the ground. Hard. I was struggling to keep conscious now, but I could not let myself submit to the darkness. I _had_ to know what was happening. Suddenly a faint flash of yellow could be seen and Minato appeared in front of me. 'Hitomi-chan, are you okay?' he asked worriedly, even though every fool with eyes could see that I most certainly wasn't okay. I weakly managed to shake my head. He grimaced, 'Everything is going to be okay, though. I will put a stop to this for once and for all. It is my duty as hokage, after all...' I smiled weakly and really felt that everything was going to be okay, so I finally gave myself over to that comforting darkness.

'It is my duty as hokage, after all…'

It was only when I had time to think about it that I realized just what these words meant. It was what Shodaime hokage had said before he had sacrificed himself in battle. It was what Nindaime hokage had said when he did the same, only a few years later. Only then, it dawned on me what he had meant, and with all the willpower I possessed I forced myself out of the peaceful abyss of darkness I had fallen to.

The scene that I saw before me was simply horrifying. The ground was literally littered with bodies, most to mutated to even recognize. Only a few foot away from me, stood Gamabunta, lord of the toads. He was supporting a very, _very_ weary looking Minato. Behind Minato a giant demon and ghost like figure hovered in the air. A chilling aura spread form it, and I couldn't help fear for it invading my body, even though it was clearly on Minato's side. The most terrifying was the nine-tails, though. Not standing further away from me than Minato was. The gigantic fox was currently snarling at Minato, when slowly a hand seemed to come out, no, through Minato's body and reach out to the beast. It tried to flinch away, but it was no use. The hand grabbed the nine-tails and let go again. But… it was still holding something.

What it did then was beyond my comprehension. It worked so fast and seamless that my tired eyes had a very hard time following it. It seemed to seal whatever it had grabbed from the nine-tails. First cutting it in half, then sealing half in a child – No… it couldn't be. Naruto… - and quickly proceeding to seal the other half in… in himself. Both the nine-tails and Minato fell to the ground, both seemed to fall in slow motion. I tried to call out to Minato. I tried to call out to my friend, mentor and father. I failed to make any sound and he failed to hear me as he fell to the ground, yet somehow he managed to flash me one final smile.

His very last smile.

* * *

><p>What happened after his death went by in a haze of colours and sounds. After I'd been healed in the hospital and after I shook off a very worried father, I was promoted to Jounin. I couldn't care less. A few weeks past by and everyone was trying their best to help rebuild the village. I couldn't care less. At Minato's funeral, I saw that Itachi was okay. Big deal…<p>

I was really, incredibly relieved to see that both my father and my little brother were okay, though. I started to spend even more time with Neji-nii, happy that in a work so filled with darkness there were small lights like him.

Also, I kept thinking of the Sharingan I had seen in the Kyuubi's eye. What had that been all about? As time passed by, it slipped to the back of my mind though, and eventually I had almost forgotten about it.

I was still overwhelmed with grief, but I worked my hardest on missions to avoid the feeling. It didn't really help. What, or rather, who did help, was Kakashi. He had lost the same as I had in the battle. Maybe even more. And so, he was the only one able to comfort me, and I was the only one able to comfort him.

* * *

><p><strong>Phew, that was a really fun chapter to write, but it was really hard at the same time.<br>And I spent all morning on it, even though I was supposed to be studying for my History test this afternoon. Actually I'm gonna be late for school because I'm writing this note, so I'll stop now.  
>Just one more thing, please review ;)<strong>

**Edit: Okay, and now I am back from school. You ungrateful little monsters!  
>I know for a fact, that already 8 people saw this, and none of them reviewed! I flunked my History test for you...<br>But actually the test went quite well - not that that means anything, usually when I think they go well I totally screwed them up. (too bad that doesn't work the other way round...) - so you are forgiven =3**

**Just a little reminder; Reviews are an authors inspiration and motivation. Hmmm... that kinda sounds like a quote...  
>Okay! I just decided that you are all allowed to use that qoute as long as you say it's from me ;) Haha, nah, just kidding.<br>But I am realizing that I'm just blabbering and that this is probably highly uninterresting for you lot, so I will stop writing this ridiculously long Authors Note now. Hihi... =3  
><strong>

**X, Faith Bell.  
><strong>


	6. Shimaru Danzou

'Neji! Neji, where are you?' still there was no answer, seriously, even though I had been searching for half an hour now, I still couldn't find that little pest. 'Okay Byakugan it is, then.' I quickly activated my Kekkei Genkai and almost immediately spotted my little brother hiding behind one of the smaller branch family houses. Face palming I grumbled something about troublesome kids and flickered right in front of him.

'So, this is where you have been hiding, otouto.' I said, a menacing grimace appearing on my face. 'I-I wasn't h-hiding… I was… erm… looking for… something.' Neji stuttered and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and ruffle his hair. He was the definition of cuteness when he did that. A long, weary sigh escaped my mouth, 'Of course you were. You do realize that you need to escort Hinata-sama to her first day at the academy in exactly… 25 seconds, right?' I asked him innocently, and I watched – not without little amusement – his eyes widen in realization and fear for my uncle's reaction if he was going to be late. 'Damn, damn, damn!' He shouted, running off towards the main house. I shook my head, 'have a nice day too, Neji.' I told the space he just left, before stalking off into the village.

I was exceedingly bored, I had just returned from a really easy mission with Kakashi-_senpai_ – he had actually entered ANBU, can you believe that? – and now had 4 free days. Normally I would be happy about it, but all my friends seemed to be off on missions and whatnot – and unless you think it's fun to listen to my uncle's rants about training all day – there was nothing interesting to do. I really envied Kakashi, he had already managed to become a member of ANBU. Of course he was a couple of years older than me and had been one of Minato's students, but still. Hmm, Minato… that reminded me, it would also be Naruto's first day at the academy, maybe I should go to the entrance ceremony? There wouldn't be anyone there for him otherwise…

The village had come to hate Naruto, because of the beast sealed within him. I couldn't stand it. But neither could I do anything about it, since my father and uncle – it must have been the first time they agreed on something – both forbade me to talk to the 'monster'. Now, usually I wouldn't listen to them, but my father had seemed so serious and concerned that I couldn't get myself to ignore what he had said. And that's how I found myself strolling towards the academy.

Once arrived at said place, I saw a dark haired boy walking forwards. Unmistakably an Uchiha. And yet he was so _cute_! I let out a long sigh when I spotted the other Uchiha in the crowd, it had been a long time since I had spoken to him. There had been a few awkward moments since I kind of saved his ass during the nine tails attack four years ago, but apart from that nothing. It was strange, though, he really intrigued me. He was always so silent and impassive, even his ass of a father was easier to read. Taking a deep breath I walked up to him, 'You here for your brother?' he turned towards me with a strange look in his eyes. 'Yes… father couldn't make it.'

Wow. That was not what I was expecting. Something was seriously going on with Itachi. First of all, he didn't just reply with 'hn' and second of all, he said more than was necessary. Something was bothering him, and I was way curious to find out what it was.

I impatiently waited for the end of the ceremony and was a bit irritated because I was the only one – apart from the Hokage – who clapped when it was Naruto's turn. When it was over, Itachi was one of the first to leave and I casually followed him, hoping against hopes that he wouldn't notice. Of course he did. 'Hyuuga, why are you following me?' 'Uchiha, what on earth gives you the idea that I am?' I retorted, thinking that I was cleaver. Of course I wasn't and he immediately began to point out how the Hyuuga compound was on the other side of the village. 'And I am not allowed to stroll around the village?' I asked him, raised eyebrow in place. 'Just leave me the fuck alone!' he _shouted –_ no, I'm serious – actually _shouted_ at me. Then he walked away, leaving me standing there, jaw on the ground.

'Well, he was acting suspiciously suspicious.' I mused to myself after he rounded the corner and I had slightly recovered from having an Uchiha _shout_ at me. I was _so_ going to find out what was going on. 'Byakugan', I whispered to myself, and I saw Itachi moving really quickly now. I quickly skipped after him, remaining far enough behind not to be seen. God, sometimes I loved my eyes. Finally I saw him sneak into the ANBU building. What the heck? He wasn't in ANBU. No way. Of course, this only reinforced my curiousity and I just _had_ to find out what the hell was going on.

I forced more chakra into my eyes and I managed to spot the Uchiha through the chakra-clouded walls. He went into a room where four other people were already present. Village elder: Utatane Koharu, Village elder: Mitokado Homura, Sandaime Hokage and Shimura Danzou. They began talking and I had to concentrate every bit of chakra I had into my eyes to be able to make out the words their lips were forming.

_No way._

I struggled to keep up the chakra flow and to keep reading their lips, but I was so shocked, so utterly shocked by what was being said that it was a near impossible job. But he would never agree, there was no way the Uchiha was going to agree. He couldn't do it. No one would be able to do that, even if he would be integrated into the ANBU black ops. What were they thinking anyway, asking such a horrid thing? I felt a surge of anger rushing through my veins, towards the Hokage, the village elders, but most of all towards Danzou. Everyone – well, not _everyone_, but a lot of people anyway – knew that he had it in for the Uchiha's. There was no way Itachi was going to agree, right? Even if they were planning to overthrow the Hokage. Wait, what? How could they do that? I was so confused – and angry – that I almost missed Itachi answer. 'Hai, Hokage-sama.'

_No fucking way._

* * *

><p>That was how I found out what was going on. Something I never should have known. You have no idea how many times I have wondered what would have happened if I hadn't followed him. If I had just done what I should have done, and taken Itachi's shouting as a warning sign that something was seriously wrong and that the best thing I could do was go home. But then again, I was never one to listen.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>And done.<strong>

**Sheesh. You have no idea how long it took for me to think of a proper way to write this chapter. Really.  
>Although I think this was the fastest update I ever had. hehe. <strong>

**Yeah. Well, I hope you enjoyed and please review!**

* * *

><p><strong>To my adorable reviewers:<strong>

Chibi-Onee-chan  
>I couldn't agree more, I had such trouble writing it! I kept thinking to myself; what if I just sacrifice Gai, then Minato can keep on living and it's a happy ending for everyone!<p>

Yuki Raion  
>Thank you for all of your reviews <em>sweety<em>,  
>I really liked all of them and they made me laugh =]<br>You also asked for some clarification on the suffix', so here you go:

**-san:** This is the most common suffix and is equivalent to Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. It is the all-purpose suffix and can be used in any situation where politeness is required.  
><strong>-sama: <strong>This is one level higher than '-san' and is used to confer great respect.  
><strong>-dono: <strong> this comes from the word 'tono', which means 'lord'. It is an even higher level than '-sama' and confers utmost respect.  
><strong>-kun:<strong> this suffix is used at the end of boys' names to express familiarity or endearment. It is also sometimes used by men among friends, or when addressing someone younger or of a lower station.  
><strong>-chan: <strong>This is used to express endearment, mostly toward girls. It is also used for little boys, pets, and even among lovers. It gives a sense of childish cuteness.  
><strong>sempaisenpai: **this title suggests that the addressee in one's senior in a group or organization. It is most often used in a school setting, where underclassmen refer to their upperclassmen as 'sempai.' It can also be used in the workplace, such as when a newer employee addresses an employee who has seniority in the company.  
><strong>Kouhai:<strong> this is the opposite of 'senpai' and is used toward underclassmen in school or newcomers in the workplace. It connotes that the addressee is of a lower station.  
><strong>sensei:<strong> Literally meaning 'one who has come before', this title is used for teachers, doctors, or masters of any profession or art.  
><strong>-[blank]:<strong> this is usually forgotten in these lists, but it is perhaps the most significant difference between Japanese and English. The lack of honorific means the speaker has permission to address the person in a very intimate way. Usually, only family, spouses, or very close friends have this kind of permission. Known as _yobisute_. It can be gratifying when someone who has earned the intimacy starts to call one by one's name without a suffix. But when that intimacy hasn't been earned, it can be very insulting.

Phew, I hope that cleared it up =3

X, Faith Bell.


	7. Uchiha Sasuke

A feeling of dread had settled itself in the pit of my stomach. Not just now. It had for a couple of weeks. Ever since I… erm… 'saw' Itachi's conversation with the rulers of Konoha. God, how could he have accepted? Why did I even care? Of course I cared, this was about Konohagakure no Sato. My village.

So, the Uchiha are planning to overthrow the Hokage, and then take over Konoha. Why? Unanswered question number 1.  
>Itachi had been set up to spy for the Uchiha clan, but instead he was a double and actually told the Hokage what they were planning. Why? Because of his loyalty to the village, probably. I would have done the same thing.<br>When the so-called 'rulers' of Konoha had heard about this plan they decided the Uchiha clan had to be exterminated. Why? Unanswered question number 2.  
>They had asked Itachi himself to do the exterminating. Why? Unanswered question number 3.<br>Then, Itachi had actually accepted the mission – okay, he didn't have much of a choice, but still – to slaughter his own clan, his own family, and become an outcast. Why? Unanswered question number 4.  
>When they had met again – and I had spied on them again… come one, I couldn't help myself. You would so have done the same thing – Itachi had demanded that they – or he – spared his little brother, Sasuke. Why? Because he loves him, obviously. And he cares more about his little brother than anyone else in this world, even himself. Strangely, I can absolutely relate to that. Neji meant the world, no, the universe to me.<br>After that, I'd seen him sneak around again, and I just had to follow him. He went to the biggest river in Konoha and met up with another guy. I think his name was Uchiha Shisui. He gave Itachi one of his Sharingan eyes and then drowned himself in the river. Why? Unanswered question number 5.

That happened half a week ago, and I was at a loss as to what I should do. Okay, that isn't exactly true. I knew exactly what I should do. Turn away, this was none of my freaking business. Leave it alone, let them figure it out for themselves. They are _Uchiha_, after all.

I couldn't.

I couldn't turn away. I couldn't just stand watching. I couldn't care less to whom it was happening. I couldn't just let a life crumble apart.

And that is how I found myself lying in my room, on my bed, incapable of deciding what to do next. I knew he would do it today. I knew what was going on. I knew I couldn't stop it. Damn it, there was _so_ much I couldn't do! After another 10 minutes of restlessness, I had had enough. I stood up, walked out of my bedroom door and went in search for Neji.

'Hey there, otouto.' I said, when I had finally found him training just outside of the Hyuuga compound. 'Nee-chan!' an excited voice reached my ears and I couldn't help but smile, again. Kami-sama, I loved him so, so much. I watched his small body run towards me and I engulfed him in a hug when he had reached me. 'Neji… it's getting dark already. You've trained enough for today. Let's go back to the house.' He looked thoughtful for a few seconds before happily agreeing and so we made our way back to the house.

As soon as we reached it I let out a soft sigh and sat down on the front porch. 'Nee-chan?' Neji questioned, confused at why I didn't enter the house. I just petted on the spot next to me, and after a few seconds Neji was occupying the space where my hand had just been. 'Neji…' I begun, but when I tried to continue I found I couldn't. I took another deep breath and saw Neji look at me with undisguised anticipation. A soft smile played on my lips as I continued, 'You know I love you, right? You mean everything to me. Please, _always_ remember that. You mean more to me than anyone or anything else.' He blinked at me for a few seconds and just as I was about to ask if he was alright, he jumped me and hugged me with all the power he could muster. A smile slipped onto my face as I hugged him back.

We sat there until it was dark. 'Neji… I think we should go inside now.' I softly nudged him, until I realized he was asleep. I smiled. Again. And softly lifted him up and brought him inside. When I'd put him in his bed I saw my father stand in the door opening. 'Dad… I'm going out for a while. You know I love you, right?' he had a questioning look on his face, 'I love you too, but Hitomi-chan, is something wrong?' he asked me, concern on his kind face. 'I don't know.' I answered truthfully. I didn't give him the time to reply and flickered to my room.

I let out a long sigh. Why was I so tense? Okay, I knew why, but why? Why was _I_ so tense? I wasn't supposed to be. I wasn't supposed to do, what I was about to. I knew that, and yet, there was nothing that would stop me from going there. I quickly strapped my katana to my back and jumped out of the window. I would go to Kakashi's house first. Again I didn't know why, but I knew I had to. 'Flying thundergod jutsu' I whispered to myself and less than a second later, I was standing in Kakashi's kitchen, one hand on the seal that was on the inside of his cupboard. 2nd from the right. I slowly got up.

It was obvious Kakashi wasn't here. It was cleaner than usual and the fridge was empty. He had probably gone on a long-term ANBU mission without telling me. Again. I made my way to the living room and grabbed Icha Icha Paradise from the coffee table it was lying on. With the obscene book in one hand I went in search of a pen, which I found on his nightstand. I quickly opened the cover and began to write on the inside.

_Kakashi,_

_Hey. Okay, this is really awkward. I don't even know why I'm writing this, I just am. So please don't kill me for ruining your book. _

_Okay, listen. Or read. Or, whatever. I know that something is going on with a certain person and I'm going to check out what it is. For some reason I've got the feeling something big is going to happen… okay, I know something is going to happen, but apart from what I already know what is going to happen. You following me? 'Cuz I'm not…_

_Yeah… so, something is going on, and I just really wanted to talk to you, but since you left without telling me – AGAIN – I'm just going to maim this book of yours a bit. I don't see how you even dare call this a book. Oh, well, it's got pages and a cover, so I shouldn't nag, I guess. ARGH! I'm a pirate. Okay, now I'm just getting weird. I just want to write you a long letter – on the inside of this thing – so now I'm writing nonsense. Sorry._

_I just wanted to  
>Just so you know<br>erm… well, yeah, I…_

_Okay, this is so infuriating! I'm sorry if this sounds weird, but I just hope you know that you're my very best friend. And I'm not going to scratch that out. _

_~..•••••ºª£€∞¢˙˙¨^˙∆∑´∂≈ƒç©˚©¬∆∫~∫ƒ¥¨©∆∆˙µ©©^_

… _okay, I'll stop maiming your favourite book now. _

_Love,  
>Hyuuga Hitomi.<em>

I carefully put the book on his pillowcase and quickly left the house. Damn, I really should work on my writing skills. I remember that at the time, I really couldn't think of anything better to write, but now, damn, I could have easily written him a book with things I still wanted to say. Guess it's to late now…

I quickly made my way to the Uchiha compound, the feeling of dread intensifying with every single step I made. When I entered through the vacated gates, I couldn't believe my eyes. There were corpses, _everywhere_. 'my god…'

Just then a high-pitched scream cut through the silence of the night like the sword had cut through the bodies that were lying before me. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck.' I kept muttering to myself as I made my way over to the source of the sound. I saw little Uchiha Sasuke lying on the ground, a look of pure terror on his small face. Itachi told him how he could only avenge his clan, how he could only become stronger, if he hated him with all his being. Tears weld up in my eyes. Not for Sasuke, but for Itachi, and what I knew he was doing to himself. I pulled myself together and saw Itachi jumping over one of the buildings. 'Damn…' I quickly jumped after him. He stood there for a moment, catching his breath when suddenly, out of nowhere, five ANBU ROOT shinobi jumped him. All of them had weapons ready, and Itachi hadn't noticed the one behind him.

_I jumped out of my hiding place. 'Secret Ninja Technique; 8 trigrams; 64 palms!'_

I don't know why I did it. Honestly, I didn't. My body just moved on it's own accord to help the person who had just killed his entire clan. Although it was ordered…

The ANBU ROOT let out a strangled cry as I hit his heart with enough force to make it implode. Which it did, by the way. 'Fire style; Giant Fireball Jutsu!' and more strangled cries as Itachi burned the others. Then he turned to me, absolutely furious. 'What the hell are you doing here?' he hissed.

Oh, fuck. An _Uchiha _just hissed at me. On top of that, _he cursed_. The world is ending. Well, ours probably really was, anyway. 'I couldn't just let that guy kill you.' I hissed back. Well aware that even more ANBU were probably making their way towards us at that very same moment. 'I just killed my clan.' 'You were ordered to.'

The look on his face was priceless. I had never, and I really mean _never_, seen an Uchiha's face hold so much… expression. He was obviously, utterly shocked. 'How did you know?' 'ANBU HQ isn't really protected against lip-reading-Byakugan-wielding Hyuugas.' 'Damn it.' He cursed again. Wow.

I heard sounds behind me, probably more ANBU ROOTs or just ANBU. As I turned around, I didn't notice Itachi's hand rising up and coming down making contact with my shoulder. Hard.

The world turned black.

* * *

><p>Right, now you know what happened. How it happened. How I ruined my life for him. God, I still don't know what to think of it. Really. Also, I really, really, <em>really<em> didn't expect to see a certain man when I woke up. Seriously, that dude was supposed to be dead. And let me tell you, he was absolutely, utterly, totally terrifying. I had never been so scared in my entire 14-year-long life. _Never._

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, another chapter. You lucky bastards ;]<strong>

**Seriously, all of your cute reviews really inspire me. So _THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!_  
>I think I'm getting better at writing. At least, it's become a lot easier to write. Does that make sense? <strong>

* * *

><p>To my cute reviewers:<p>

Chibi-Onee-Chan  
>Awww, my ever faithful reviewer =3<br>Your reviews always make me laugh x) thankies~  
>And I agree, nothing is worse than a shouting Uchiha<p>

Angelfang  
>I will! :3<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, but this is IMPORTANT.<strong>

**Since I don't want to make her a Mary Sue, first of all I need to know if she is MarySue-ish or not. **

**Secondly, I think most of you already know who the mysterious man is. Right? **

**So, I'm going to let you choose what happens between them.  
>Will he:<strong>

**1. be impressed with her and tell her she's brave. (wtf, that would be so ooc.. and really MS. But, your choice.)**

**2. Tell her she's stupid, seriously maim her, and then leave her in the forest.**

**3. Tell her she's stupid, try to seriously maim her, but then Itachi protects her and he brings her back to the village**

**4. Tell her she's stupid, tell him they should sort it out for themselves and that will eventually result in her joining the Akatsuki.**

**5. Tell her she's stupid, she tells him he can fuck off, It results in a semi-fight, some funny stuff, and her joining the Akatsuki.**

**Okay, so basically she's going to join the Akatsuki anyhow and you guys just get to choose how she does it =)**

**I will do everything in my power to not make her a Mary Sue. Which includes: no sitting alone in a room desperate for her Ita-kun to come back, no entire Akatsuki miraculously together in one base. The base doesn't even have rooms! If they want to stay near the base they can camp out and that's that. Okay, right. I'm being weird again. My point is, … well, actually I don't know. And I'm not going to tell you any more, because it will give away the plot. **

**Okay, I already did that, didn't I?**

**What's strange, I didn't even plan to do this, it was just a kind of impulse. I have been acting on impulses much lately… that reminds me of 'Kabouter Wesley' do any of you know it? I suppose not… it's really funny, though.**

**Now I will stop blabbering and be annoying. Please review! You will all have a week, beginning now, to tell me what you want to happen. You can also PM me, although I prefer reviews =3**

**X, Faith Bell.**


	8. Uchiha Madara

I remember lying on something soft. For a moment, I had wondered if I was lying in my bed, but for some reason that had seemed unlikely. Why I thought that, I didn't know. Even though I could feel a certain softness, I also felt really numb. Numb... Well, that couldn't have been good, so I channeled some chakra into my nerves, to make them active. I immediately wished I hadn't. I was _freezing_ cold.

'Gyaa!' with a strangled yelp, I shot up, and tried to open my eyes. It was still dark. Someone had taken the courtesy to blindfold me. Tch, blindfolding an Hyuuga, how pointless. I activated my Byakugan and saw that I had been lying in the snow. Why had I been lying in _snow_? I thought back about how I could have ended up here, when the events of last night came back to me. 'Fuck...'

Had Itachi just left me here? Why would he do that? Was he afraid that I was going to reveal information? No, whom did I have to tell? The Hokage and village elders already knew, and by now, the whole village must have heard of the massacre - and know Itachi did it, because he left Sasuke behind... This didn't make any sense, I needed to find Itachi.

I concentrated some extra chakra in my eyes, and noticed a... strange blur of chakra a couple of miles to my right. I couldn't see what it was, due to this blindfold and due to the fact that it was that far away _and_ due to the fact that I was still quite numb from the cold.

First, I had tried to get rid of the blindfold, but that had been a miserable failure, when I noticed my hands were tied too. Okay, I might have noticed a little late, but in my defense, I was freezing. I decided just to go to the vague chakra disturbance to see what was going on.

I must have looked ridiculous, running through the trees, blindfolded, arms tied, and stumbling a bit. That didn't matter, though. There was no one to see me, anyway. I finally arrived at the clearing and the first sound that met my ears was a low, humourless laugh. It sounded quite terrifying. 'So, you did make it after all.' The same voice as the laugh said, in a very deep and dark voice. I tried to make out his face, but there was just a blur, even though I could make out the rest of his body perfectly fine. That's when I noticed the other person in the clearing, and I immediately recognized him as Itachi. What in the world was going on? 'Who are you?' I asked, my voice sounding one heck of a lot calmer than I was feeling. Another very dark chuckle and the man started to make his way towards me. I involuntary took three steps back. 'I just want to untie you.' He said, and he made his voice sound quite innocent, but to tell you the truth, that only made him scarier. 'I think I'll let Itachi do that.' I quickly walked over to where Itachi was, but he didn't move. Again, the man let out a chuckle, but it sounded even more dangerous this time. 'You trust the traitor who killed his own family?' Behind me, I could see Itachi tense just a bit.

I got angry. Of course I couldn't just tell him that I knew what had happened, because I had no idea who he was. Thus, I settled for the lamest I could come up with, 'It wasn't his fault.' Seriously, he had just killed his family, and here I was saying it wasn't his fault. Even if he was ordered, it was _him_ who had killed them. But, apparently the man was satisfied with my answer. 'Ah, so she does know.' My eyes widened, _fuck._

'You're coming with me, little girl.' and then he directed his attention to Itachi, 'and _you_ can go ahead to the base.' I saw Itachi nod, and before I could react to anything, the man was behind me, and he teleported me somewhere else.

* * *

><p>At the time, I didn't know what kind of teleportation jutsu the man had used, so I tried using the Byakugan. That hadn't been a good idea. I ended up with a very bad headache. It looked like we were going through all kind of portals, but I couldn't see anything more than that. When we arrived wherever he was taking me, he roughly removed my blindfold and untied my hands.<p>

All I could see were a black cloak with red clouds and an orange mask. Although... through the orange mask... I gasped. 'Y- you, who?' 'You're going to stay here for a while.' He made to grab for me, but with proper eyesight, and my hands untied, I wasn't willing to just obey. I just managed to evade his hand, and activated my gentle fist. 'Gentle fist; One Palm death strike!'

I was so naive. I thought I got him. As if...

My hand went right through him, and the rest of my body followed, causing me to collide with a hard steel wall. I tried to get up again, but it was no use. The man grabbed me and threw me into a dark room. Once he shut the door, there was total darkness. I heard him lock the door and walk away. That's when I sunk to the floor.

I cried.

I know, I had promised. I had promised to never cry anymore, but I couldn't contain it. Here I was, locked in some steel prison somewhere near the snow country. Although, near the snow country? After that jutsu, I honestly had no idea where I was. How had this happened? It wasn't supposed to go like this... I don't know what I expected to happen when I killed that ROOT shinobi, I don't know what I expected to happen when I decided to go with that Uchiha, I just knew it wasn't this. Tears trickled down my face in a steady flow, I didn't make any sound, the tears just... fell.

After 1 hour, I had finally calmed down enough to activate my Byakugan and investigate my surroundings. To my relief, I noticed that there was a water tab in one corner of the room. Only once I saw it, I realised that I was incredibly thirsty. I quickly made my way over to it, and drank a small amount. I had no idea how much water there was.

After 2 days, I started to get really hungry and I took one of my food pills. I had a total of 7 with me. One food pill equaled one meal, so that wasn't much. Luckily, I also had 10 soldier pills with me, so I decided to take them in turns.

After 3 weeks, I was getting desperate. Where they planning on just letting me starve here? No, that couldn't be it. If that were the case they would have just killed me right? I cried again, thinking about Neji-nii, about my father, about Kakashi. I wanted to see them again. At least before I died in this hole. For a shinobi to die while imprisoned, what kind of death is that? Not an honourable one, at least. When I thought of Kakashi, I thought of his kindness, how he could always make me smile... then I thought of Minato and Obito. How I would love it to be able to see them one more time. Just to say one more thing to them... But I knew that wasn't going to happen. I knew, that those were people I'd never see again...

After 1 month, my food and soldier pills were gone - luckily there was still enough water - and I was starving, that's when the door opened. It wasn't the man with the orange mask; I didn't sense the dark aura. I couldn't see who it was, though. The person threw something at me. I tried to catch it, but I missed and it fell to the ground. I slowly walked over to it - I was still starving, and I had to keep an eye on the person in the doorway - and when I noticed it was soft and that it could keep me _warm_, I immediately put it on. I didn't even notice it was the same as the man in the orange mask had worn.

Carefully, I made my way over to the door. 'Are you... okay?' the person in the door asked. I immediately recognised who it was and I felt anger, a _lot_ of anger boil up inside of me.

'Am I okay? Of course I'm not okay! I've been in here for a month. What do you care anyway, it was _your friend_ that threw me in here anyway, wasn't it? Is this what I get for helping you?' I half shouted, half hissed at him. I was _furious._ 'hn.' His ever-present blank face remained, 'I never wanted your help.' I stared at him, incredulously, 'Seriously? Is that what you're going to tell me? My god, just why did I have to go and waste my life for you? You're not even close to being my friend! And, on top of that, you're an _Uchiha_.' He didn't answer, but I was sure that... that I could see a tear fall down his face. Another one followed. I didn't understand why, honestly, I didn't understand Itachi at _all_. It was just; I couldn't stand to watch this. I was shouting at him, when he had just been forced to murder his family. I was being an absolute bitch. 'Oh, you... you're crying...' I let out a sigh, 'come here.'

I _hugged_ Uchiha Itachi.

He didn't even resist. He just let me hug him. I never understood why had, at that moment, when we didn't… know each other, like we do now. Do _now_…? What am I talking about? He's gone… We had never talked about it. Some time later, he just stood up and told me that orochimaru had left a group called "Akatsuki" and that I had been accepted in. That I should trust him, and that he didn't want anything to happen to me because I was just an innocent leaf shinobi. That if I didn't join, I would be killed for sure. That killing me had been the original plan, but that he had been able to convince Pein - the current leader of Akatsuki - that Sharingan and Byakugan would make a good combination. He also told me that we would be operating in a team from now on and that I should watch out for the man in the orange mask. The man named _Uchiha Madara_.

* * *

><p>Since that time, all we really did was missions. We hardly ever talked about what had happened on the night that the Uchiha-clan was murdered. Until he told me something, a couple of years later. He told me Orochimaru had killed Sandaime Hokage. I think that was the first time he saw me cry.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>And… done.<strong>

**Haha, hey there guys. I'm sorry it took so long for me to upload this, but I have been _so_ busy! I went to London during autumn-break and it was AWESOME. Seriously…**

**I also started a new story, named 'Crimson, of Blood and Eyes'. I'm not sure what's going to happen there yet, so suggestions are welcome :D**

**Now, to my amazing reviewers:**

**Yuki Raion  
>Ahhh, thanks for all of your reviews! They were so sweet!<strong>  
><strong>But, no, seriously? Hidan?<strong>  
><strong>Haha, with the "crazy laugh", I'm sure. :P<strong>  
><strong>But seriously, thanks for your reviews, Agent N, they're the ones that keep me going 3<strong>

**Chibi-Onee-Chan**  
><strong>Finally, a new chapter ;)<strong>  
><strong>I tried (a little half-assed, though) To do option 5, it turned out like this, though I guess I'm not too good with humour things…<strong>  
><strong>I hope you enjoyed the chapter ^.^<strong>

**Angelfang**  
><strong>That's such a flattering offer! I'm sorry, though, but I already planned out this entire story (and perhaps a sequel) and another girl just… doesn't really fit in.<strong>  
><strong>But, perhaps, if I need a new OC for a new story, I'll ask you :)<strong>

**oOBlueBumbleBeesOo  
>Phew, I'm glad you liked Minato. It's really hard to write about him, because he's my favourite character, and I want to keep him in his "image", if you get what I'm trying to say…<strong>  
><strong>Flaws… You know, that's actually a really good idea. You just gave me some new inspiration for a chapter, thanks =3<strong>

**InsaneNinja**  
><strong>I tried, but it turned out like this instead… I hope you still enjoyed it :)<strong>

**And last, but not least, a big THANK YOU, to everyone who either faved or subscribed, or did both ;)**

**X, Faith Bell.**


	9. Sarutobi Hiruzen

'Itachi, what's wrong?' I remember asking him that. He had been paler than normal, so I asked him what was wrong. He told me, that he had managed to get some news about the fire country. Being on all those missions caused us to remain woefully uninformed. I had hardened through the years. Years I had spent in the company with Itachi. The person I really had recognised as an outright genius now. I had become much, much stronger thanks to him.

I asked him what the news was. He paused for a moment, which I thought strange, since he was usually quite straight-forward. Just as I was about to ask him if he was alright, he looked me in the eye and told me that my father had died. I started trembling and I could feel tears burning at the back of my eyes, but I wouldn't let them out. I kept a strong face. 'How?' I asked him, sounding terrifyingly calm. 'Apparently there was a disagreement between Kumo and Konoha. Kumo wanted Konoha to give up the secrets of the Byakugan and to bring them your uncle's corps. Your father went instead.' ... my father had died. And it was my uncle's fault. A very cold feeling washed over me. Like being frozen from the inside out. It was worse than with my mothers death. The only similarity was that, this time also, I could not cry. I could not cry standing in front of Itachi. That would just be so incredibly selfish, I couldn't even stand the idea of it. Another thought struck me. If my father had died, Neji-nii would be on his own. How would he be coping? 'How long?' I asked Itachi. 'A couple of years.' 'A couple of years?' I all but shouted at him, 'How long is a couple of years?' 'When he turned 6.' My eyes widened in shock, but otherwise I still managed to keep my face straight. 'Neji-nii has been doing without a father fo-' I cut myself off when I realised exactly what I was saying. Yes, Neji-nii might have spent a long time without a father, but at least he still had family left. 'Oh.. erm... anything else?' I asked him, having composed myself again... well, a bit, at least. 'Yes... Sandaime Hokage passed away a couple of days ago, after Otogakure attacked Konohagakure.'

I blinked at him. 'Come again?' 'Sandaime Hokage passed away a couple of days ago, after Otogakure attacked Konohagakure.' '... I- I heard you the f-first time.' 'hn.' Then it happened, a single, traitorous, wet tear slipped down my cheek. 'And... now?' He was silent for a while, contemplating something, probably. 'Yes, I must go to Konoha. I need to make sure that my agreement with Konoha still stands.' I closed my eyes, sighing and trying to get myself together. 'Itachi...' I started, placing my hand on his shoulder, feeling him stiffen a little bit underneath my grasp, but at least he didn't flinch away. He looked up, '_we_ need to go to Konoha, _we _need to make sure that Konoha will still honour the agreement. Okay?' He nodded, a slight smile on his face. I couldn't help but smile too, I don't think anyone could have, he always looked adorable when he smiled. _If _he smiled, which wasn't very often.

We reached Konohagakure within a day's travel. I gulped as we stood there, on top of the village's wall. Itachi had known how to get through the barrier without being detected. How convinient he had been in ANBU. I hadn't been here in a long time. Would I see Neji-nii, or Kakashi? I hoped not. It would make it a whole lot harder to leave again. Although... how would they react to seeing me? Did people even know if I was involved in the whole Uchiha-masacre thing? Of course they did... I left behind way too many clues.

In the mean time, we had also discussed our cover for coming to Konoha. Pein-sama had wanted us to gather all of the tailed beasts, though we didn't get the exact details. Naruto was a good excuse. Itachi also told me that he would go speak to the village elders alone, because he didn't want Konoha to know how involved I was. Reluctantly, very reluctantly, I agreed. So, now I sat there alone, on top of the wall of Konohagakure. My Byakugan was activated underneath the straw hat that his my features and I had clouded my chakra.

I finally had some time to think, as I stared at the village that I had always called my home. It was in ruins now. Well, ruins, maybe that stretched it a bit far, but there was still smoke coming from several places, still remnants from Orochimaru's attack. I swore to Kami-sama, if I ever saw that Snake bastard again I would kill him for doing this to Konoha. I raised my head to look at the sky. Clouds drifted by. How pleasant it would be to just be able to drift around in the sky, not a worry in the world - apart from the frequent thunderstorms every now and then.

I let out a long sigh as I took my time to really absorb my surroundings for once. I looked up at the Hokage monument. At the yondaime's - no, Minato's face looking down at me. I wondered how anyone had ever thought up the idea of carving the first Hokage's face into a mountain. Odd. There were more things I wondered. Why were trees green? Why did it matter? Did animals see trees in other colours? Did colours even exist or did our brains make them up? I was so absorbed by my musings, I didn't even notice Itachi landing next to me. I jumped at his voice, 'The agreement still stands.' I nodded shakily, while I mentally scolded myself for letting my guard down. On top of Konoha's village wall of all places.

Itachi told me we would camp and search for Naruto the next day. I agreed.

The next day we infiltrated Konoha again. We had been wandering around the village for a while, attracting some stares because of our out of place attire, but they were easy enough to ignore. 'Let's have some tea.' I told Itachi when we passed a tea-shop. He raised a perfectly shaped brow at me, but entered the shop all the same.

We sat there, both of us had a cup of tea and a plate of dango stood between us on the table. We didn't say anything, the silence was comfortable. I liked listening to Konoha's sound, as long as it lasted. I was about to take another sip from my tea when I froze. A familiar chakra signal had just arrived at the tea shop. It was too familiar. I held Itachi's gaze and it was all I could do to not turn around and just jump and hug my best friend. Kakashi stood there, waiting, leaning against the door frame of the shop.

Two more chakra signals approached, less familiar, but familiar all the same. 'Yo.' Kakashi greeted the two others. They made sounds of greeting in return. 'You guys look good together,' Kakashi told them, 'out on a date?' 'Idiot!' A voice I recognised as Kurenai's snapped in return, 'Anko asked me to pick up some sweets for her.' Then I heard Asuma's voice, 'What about you? What are you doing here? Picking up some sweets too?' he asked the copy-nin sarcastically. 'Not really...' He told them, and from his tone I could tell he was smiling sheepishly, 'I'm supposed to meet up with someone. I'm waiting for Sasuke.'

I immediately noticed Itachi stiffen at the mention of his brothers name. I reached out and touched his hand. He relaxed slightly. 'It's odd to see you waiting for someone.' Kurenai told Kakashi. At that moment, another chakra signature appeared. 'Kakashi. It's very different for you to arrive first.' It was Sasuke. My eyes shot up to meet Itachi's. As soon as our eyes met, his look confirmed what I'd been thinking and we teleported out of there.

We landed near the Nanako river. 'Are you okay?' he nodded, then he looked at me. I nodded to confirm the same thing. I let out a slight breath when two people suddenly appeared in front of us. Well, I couldn't say I hadn't expected it.

'It's been a while... Asuma-san... Kurenai-san...' Itachi spoke first. 'You're originally from this village... aren't you?' Asuma asked, obviously not recognising us. I didn't blame him, with those stupid straw hats. 'You already know us... So you were originally shinobi from this village?' He asked, clarifying as though we hadn't understood his earlier question. Itachi grimaced slightly - of course I was the only one who noticed, with my Byakugan activated - before he reached up and removed his hat. 'You...! You are!' Kurenai shouted, too flabbergasted to actually form a proper sentence. Asuma smirked and I couldn't help but raise a brow, not that anyone noticed anyway. 'Hm... There's no doubt about it...' He started confidently, 'You're Uchiha Itachi.'

I honestly had to repress the urge to roll my eyes at his dramatic tone. 'And who are you?' Asuma asked me offensively. 'Hm. I'm offended you didn't recognise me.' I said, and they both looked up surprised, Kurenai because my voice was no doubt a lot more feminine than she had expected it, and Asuma because I was sure he recognised my voice. I removed my hat and a sort of shocked anger reached Asuma's eyes, obviously confirming his suspicions about my identity. 'Hyuuga Hitomi.' He stated, and Kurenai looked up at him, shocked. What had she heard about me, I wondered. 'Now that you two are here, I'll take you on!' Asuma all but shouted.

'Itachi...' I drawled, hoping to buy as much time as I could before an actual fight broke out, 'this isn't exactly the warm welcome we had hoped for, is it?' I asked him, my voice dripping with sarcasm. 'I've heard of you...' Kurenai told me, and I turned to look at her. I was interested in what she had to say, though the expression on my face looked far from it. 'Hyuuga Hitomi, prodigy of the Hyuuga clan. Went missing on the night of the Uchiha-massacre after she had told Kakashi she was on to something. Everyone assumed he had killed you.'

Had they now? Well, that was interesting. And... complicated. At least it explained why Kurenai had looked so shocked upon hearing my name. I hoped Neji-nii hadn't fostered the same hate for Itachi as Sasuke had. If he heard I was with Itachi and against Konoha... I couldn't imagine how hurt and ashamed he'd be. 'Why did you turn against Konoha?' Asuma asked me. I only grinned in return. Honestly, it was because I had no idea what sort of answer I should give him, but Asuma seemed to interpret it as some kind of sadistic gleeful grin, and more rage blazed in his eyes. I could understand why.

'You two are pretty brave to come back and to set foot in this village after causing that incident.' Asuma told us, voice still full of suppressed rage. So, now that he knew I wasn't dead he assumed I had helped Itachi massacre his clan. It was only logical and not even that far from the truth, still, I couldn't help but be slightly hurt that he just assumed I'd betray Konoha that easily. Then again, if I was in league with Uchiha Itachi, I suppose everything was possible in his eyes.

Itachi sighed, 'Asuma-san... Kurenai-san... please do not interfere with our affairs. You will only get yourselves killed.' he warned them. I wish they would have listened. Asuma tch'ed, 'I wonder if you are actually able to back up those words with actions.' He told Itachi, 'Either something is wrong with the way you think, or you are just too full of yourself. It would have been better for you not to come, wouldn't it?' He asked mockingly.

I briefly closed my eyes. If there was anyone who was too full of them self it was Asuma. 'Why are you here?' He asked threateningly. Itachi's eye shifted slightly and I took it as a sign. I pulled my Katana of my back and swung it at Asuma. 'You are so annoying Asuma. Do you _want_ to die?' I asked him. 'Don't be too rash, Hitomi.' Itachi interrupted me, 'Just make sure they don't get back to the village, but don't over do it, it would be a wast of energy.' I smirked, 'sure.'

I leaped foreward, bringing my Katana clashing down on Asuma's weapons. Kurenai jumped from behind him and attacked Itachi with a genjutsu. Honesty, how stupid was she? Asuma frowned at me, obviously wondering why I was using a Katana. I smirked and raised my free hand, '_Hakke Kuushou.'_ Compressed air and chakra left my palm and hit Asuma full force in the stomach, he doubled over and I used the momentum to give him a deep, rather nasty cut in his arm.

'Kurenai, you're late.' Asuma shouted, somehow still managing to smirk, even with the cigarette that was dangling from his mouth. I smirked as no more than a second later Itachi broke the genjutsu and kicked Kurenai, sending her flying into the river. 'Kurenai!' Asuma shouted worriedly. 'You should pay attention Asuma,' I told him, gathering chakra in my hands - my Katana already back where it always was, 'turning your back on your enemy in battle could get you killed.' We fought Taijutsu-style for a couple of seconds. His mistake. My palm softly touched his shoulder and he flew backwards from the suppressed chakra that I released into his chakra system.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Kakashi advancing on us. I quickly made some handsigns '_Suikoudan no Jutsu!' _My attack was met with one exactly similar to it. I wasn't really surprised. 'Oh, it's just you. Got here a bit late, didn't you?' Asuma asked Kakashi casually. 'Yeah, sorry.' Kakashi asked sheepishly. Then, from another direction, a kage bunshin of Kakashi, who was currently standing behind Itachi - a kunai to his throat, 'Well! Let's put an end to this...' 'Hatake Kakashi.' Itachi stated, slowly turning around.

They stared at each other for a long time, before he turned his head to me. If he was shocked to see me again, he hid it well. 'Hmmm... this is surprising,' Kakashi drawled, 'I didn't expect the two suspicious people from the tea shop to be Uchiha Itachi and Hyuuga Hitomi.' He said, his tone growing colder with every word he spoke. Especially after his eyes had darted up to my forehead and spotted my Hitai-ate with a horizontal scrape across it. 'It's been a long time, Kakashi.' I spoke up, a smile - that no one apart from Itachi would recognise as fake - upon my face. 'I thought you were dead.' He told me bluntly. 'Yeah, well, I don't die as easily as your other "friends".' I told him, and I saw his eyes narrow sharply.

At this moment I really, really hated myself. How could I say something like that to Kakashi? I was absolutely horrible. But, it was necessary. I knew that. Kakashi lowered into a fighting position and I grabbed my Katana from my back. 'Hitomi, stop it.' Itachi ordered. I acted surprised, 'Why?' I asked him, my voice laced with disappointment. 'If it was only one person you had to fight this matter could have been resolved quickly, but you are about to fight many shinobi. It will take to long and even more will come. Remember the reason why we came here. Getting injured is not it. 'Yeah, yeah, I suppose you're right.' I sighed, putting my Katana back. 'In that case, why don't you tell us why you did come here?' Kakashi asked. It was silent for a moment before Itachi spoke up, 'We've come looking for... something.' 'Looking for something?' Kakashi repeated, sounding mildly surprised.

It was quiet again, Kakashi sighed, 'What is this all about?' he questioned. Itachi sighed as well, 'If it were me you were facing, not Hitomi, this would take no time at all.' Itachi told him. A poof sounded and the shadow clone facing me had dissolved, as if Kakashi was daring Itachi to attack. He did.

Itachi quickly threw some well-aimed shuriken at him, but Kakashi made a water barrier in orther to stope them. 'Your Sharingan eye is remarkable, as expected of the copy nin,' Itachi spoke up, 'isn't that right?' Another Itachi asked, this one standing behind Kakashi, a kunai knife already embedded in his back. I saw Kakashi's eyes widen and Kurenai shouted - not that it was necessary, 'A shadow clone? His Jutsu speed is incredibly fast!' At that moment, though, Kakashi melted into water - making it clear to the other Konoha shinobi that he had only been a water clone.

'Nice Kakashi.' Kurenai uttered, making to attack Itachi. She was stopped by the silver haired shinobi jumping out of the water and puling her back into it's depths, shouting, 'Get down Kurenai, this one's just a copy!' Itachi's clone exploded and all of the water surrounding it flew up into the air, hitting whatever poor soul was standing in it's vicinity. Which happened to be me.

I scowled as I took some leaps backwards, but I was already soaked. 'Kakashi! Kurenai!' Asuma shouted from the sidelines, jumping onto the water. When the mist the explosion had caused, cleared away. I could see Kakashi standing in front of Kurenai, his back obviously hurt. He had protected her from the explosion, taking all of the damage. 'Keep your guards up... this man became an ANBU Black Ops _captain_ when he was 13.' Kakashi warned the two shinobi standing behind him. 'Is that... all he has?' Asuma questioned in return. 'No...' Kakashi answered immediately, 'That was only a fraction of his power...'

'You are not blood-related to the Uchiha clan.' Itachi interrupted him, 'We are the true masters of the Sharingan. Still... your body is suitable for the eye... but it does not contain any of our blood.' Kakashi glowered at him, 'Do you know why the Uchiha clan is the most powerful and feared clan of all?' I almost, _almost_ scoffed at that. Even though Itachi and I had become something akin to friends, we still had a slight rivalry going, mainly because of the different clans we came from. 'I will... show you the true power of the Sharingan bloodline.' Itachi told Kakashi. Upon hearing this my head whipped around to stare at him, a bit faster than it should have - I was certain I had heard a crack. I didn't care though, what I did care about was the jutsu Itachi was planning to use, the jutsu I couldn't let him use. It was too dangerous for both him _and_ Kakashi. 'Both of you, close your eyes _now_!' Kakashi bellowed at Asuma and Kurenai, who obeyed his words without question. 'Listen,' he told them in a soft dangerous hissing voice, which they wouldn't hesitate to obey, 'Only another person with Sharingan could possibly fight him-' 'It is true that only another Sharingan user could possibly hope to defeat me... however... this jutsu 'Tsukoyomi' is very special. Only someone with Uchiha blood could possibly defeat me.'

I had to use a lot of will power to refrain from shouting 'don't!'. So he was going to use Tsukoyomi, and he was going to use it on Kakashi. I couldn't stop it, I knew that - and Itachi knew it. All I could do was hope that they would come out of it... not too scarred...

It was silent for a horrible five seconds before Kakashi suddenly collapsed into the water. 'What's wrong Kakashi?' Kurenai shouted, having heard him collapse, but not having been able to actually see what was going on. 'What just happened?' Asuma asked, 'While this guy was talking...' 'Ugh...' Kakashi was actually getting up, 'It's not over yet...' 'Kakashi, stop it,' I told him, 'you can't win and we can't afford to waste energy on killing you... And you,' I said, rounding on Itachi, 'You shouldn't use such dangerous jutsu for such... unimportant reasons.' I hissed at him, venom lacing my words because I was actually worried for his health. Especially since I could see him sweating slightly.

'Guh...' Kakashi started again, having trouble speaking, 'You're... looking for... Sasuke, aren't you?' Itachi's eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked at the copy nin's very tired form, 'We are looking for the 4th Hokage's legacy.' 'The 4th Hokage's legacy?' Kakashi asked, sounding very confused, 'What do you want with him?' It was silent for a moment, we weren't going to give our "intentions" away that easily. Kakashi though, was very observant and immediately caught on, 'You're after the Kyuubi inside of him, aren't you?' he wasn't done yet, 'You've begun to move, you think we don't know? The name of your organisation, it's "Akatsuki", isn't it?'

I was surprised that he actually knew our name and flashed a quick look at Itachi, to confirm he was just as surprised as I was. 'Hitomi...' Itachi started in a monotone voice, 'take kakashi out, we can't let him get away with the information he possesses.' I nodded and quickly charged at Kakashi, who wasn't able to defend himself, but I had noticed the advancing chakra signature and was slightly prepared for the kick that hit me hard in the chest as I went skidding back to the other side of the river. I quickly backflipped and landed on my feet, 'Well, if it isn't the spandex-man.' I sneered at the newly arrived figure. 'The leaf's prideful green beast,' he shouted in his defence, 'Maito Gai!' I tch'ed at him, to hide a snigger at how he hadn't changed since we were young. He narrowed his eyes at me when he recognised my face, 'Hitomi, it really is... how un-youthful of you to join such a heinou-' his rant was cut short when Kakashi finally collapsed and fell into the water and Gai quickly turned around to get him out.

'Don't look into his eyes, Gai!' Asuma warned him, 'That's how the jutsu is done!' 'I know about that, when I fought Kakashi he always used his Sharingan,' Gai told him, unable to hide a slightly pride tone at how _the_ copy-nin needed his Sharingan to be able to defeat him. 'I know how to fight him! Both of you open your eyes. When fighting someone who wields the Sharingan, always look at their feet! As long as you don't make eye-contact it's fine. There is a... method to it, but there's no time for that now! Just get used to it.' Both of them carefully opened their eyes, making sure they were looking at the ground - or, in this case, water. 'Kurenai! You take Kakashi to the hospital, he needs medical treatment!' Gai ordered her and she didn't hesitate to obey, 'Asuma you will be my back-up. I have already arranged for reinforcements. For now, we will take them on here!' He shouted, already lowering into a fighting stance.

'Still overconfident, Gai?' I asked him mockingly, 'Too bad, I don't think you _will_ take us on.' 'Yes...' Itachi agreed, 'we did not come here to start a war... for now, let's leave.' I let out a sigh, 'Well, you're the captain.' And with that we both teleported a good ways away from Konoha. I grabbed Itachi's hand and used the Flying Thundergod technique to get us even further away, to some random village I had once placed a seal. Once we were there, 'safe' for now, I turned on Itachi.

'Are you an idiot?' I hissed at him. He ignored me. I grabbed his arm and immediately his eyes shot up to meet mine, in a silent order to let go. I ignored him. 'You could have done serious damage to your eyes!' I hissed again, my voice even more dangerous. His eyes were surprised for less than a second before his face slipped back into it's emotionless mask. 'Hn.' I rolled my eyes at him and collapsed on the ground. He looked at me, silently questioning me why I had sat down. 'I'm just a bit... shaken. I didn't really expect to... meet so many old friends at once...' I told him with a shaky voice. His eyes softened as he sat down next to me, 'You did a good job.'

* * *

><p>That was when I first saw Kakashi again. It wasn't exactly what I had expected it to be... then again, I didn't really know what I expected in the first place. I hope he isn't too angry with me... Oh, well, it doesn't matter anymore. Kakashi is dead. And so would I be, in a couple of minutes... I wonder what death is like. I wonder a lot of things, don't I? I wonder what Itachi felt when he first saw Sasuke again...<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys,<br>It's been forever since I updated, hasn't it? Well, don't fret, I am back! Sort off...  
>See, I'm really busy with school at the moment, because my grades are kind of failing. I'll continue to write as much as I can though :3<strong>

**And thanks to Drake-chan (burningxdrake), Chibi-Onee-chan and InsaneNinja for your kind reviews :D**

**Please review and... *insert drumrolls* please inform me of a situation or dialogue you would like between Hitomi and Itachi, or other characters, becuase as of next chaper I will be opening the Omake Theatre. YAY. **

**Oh, and I apologise for the un-editedness of this chapter, I will as soon as I have the time :)**

**x, Faith Bell.  
><strong>


	10. Jiraiya

'We should go after them again, Itachi.' I told him softly, steadying myself for another confrontation. He nodded, 'It's a good place to fight, they won't be able to increase their numbers.' I nodded, that was true. Back-up would be really troublesome, it would make it a lot more difficult to not hurt anyone.

About an hour later we finally arrived in the small village Jiraiya and Naruto would be passing through. It was a small village, but it was colourful. With it's old-fashioned brown and white cottages and the frequent ox passing through. There was a small girl dancing happily with her father, while her older brother glared at her jealously. It pained me that we had to break the obvious air of peace and content here. Silently we waited until it would be evening, and to tell the truth, I was feeling awfully apprehensive. I remember I was afraid of actually really hurting him. I had promised Minato I would protect him, and I was trying everything in my power to do so, but we couldn't afford to make the shinobi from Konoha even the slightest bit suspicious of us, so...

Itachi softly nudged me in the side. I looked up and he ever so slightly moved his head to the left. When I looked left I saw - or rather heard - Jiraiya and Naruto enter the village. They rally were awfully loud, not exactly what you would expect from a legendary sannin. We waited until Jiraiya had dumped Naruto and shooed him off to the hotel room. I sighed, the toad sage really was falling for our trap way too easily. She was a fairly pretty girl - civilian, so it had been easy to place her under a genjutsu - but to take the bait so easily... well, I just supposed that _was_ what Jiraiya was known for. His... fondness of women and alcohol.

After we had made sure Jiraiya wouldn't be following Naruto any time soon, we did. Itachi paused before his door for a moment before opening it. When he did, we saw Naruto standing on the other side of the doorpost. He was shaking all over, feeling Itachi's very dangerous aura, even genin were able to recognise that he was extremely dangerous. 'Are you sure he has the nine-tails?' I asked Itachi with fake doubt in my voice. Naruto's head snapped up at me and his eyes betrayed his feelings. Shock and fear, I couldn't blame him. 'Naruto-kun, you need to come with us.' Itachi told him in his monotone no-nonsense tone. Naruto didn't react, he just kept standing there, staring. 'Come out of the room...' The Uchiha repeated. You should _never _make an Uchiha repeat him or herself, it can get very ugly. Slowly and very hesitantly Naruto obeyed, silently raising his foot and placing it in the white, stone hallway. He was still shaking, no doubt wondering what these people wanted from him. I sighed, 'It's about time we got going, Itachi. I could cut a leg off, we don't need him running around.' I suggested, a sadistic grin on my face as I made to get my Katana off my back. Itachi didn't react, instead his body grew very tense, a moment later I realised why. I had activated my Byakugan quietly, ignoring a small gasp from Naruto as he figured out I was from the Hyuuga clan and immediately recognised Sasuke. I froze in place, anxiously awaiting what exactly would happen between the two brothers. 'It has been a while... Sasuke.'

'Uchiha Itachi...' Sasuke hissed, every word drenched in hatred. I could see Naruto's eyes widen behind me, as realisation dawned on him. 'Well well,' I started, 'Today is a special day, don't you think? This is the second time I've seen a Sharingan apart from Itachi's and they aren't really common nowadays.' Sasuke completely ignored my attempted provocation and stared at Itachi, radiating killer intent, 'I will... KILL YOU!' he shouted, it sounded like it had been a very impulsive exclamation seeing as he was still standing where he was, evaluating the situation.

I quickly gathered my guts and laughed out loud, 'If it isn't Sasuke. It's indeed been a while.' He ignored me - again - and kept staring at Itachi. I started laughing harder. It sounded terrible and forced in my ears, but Naruto looked absolutely horrified, so it probably did have the desired effect. Both of the Uchiha's ignored my laughter, but in my opinion it made the whole situation even more ominous and creepy than it had already been. As the two brothers stared each other down, Itachi's gaze steadily grew darker, and Sasuke's look steadily grew angrier and angrier and angrier, until he finally shouted out in rage. My laughter died away and I was happy I didn't have to force it anymore.

'I've been waiting to say this to you,' Sasuke said, having trouble not to raise his voice, 'I've lived hating you, I have lived for the sole purpose of killing you.' Itachi glared at him and Sasuke finally shouted, 'I have lived for this!' A chirping sound filled the room and Sasuke's hand lit up into a full blown Chidori. I was surprised, 'Chidori...?' 'Aaaaahhh!' Sasuke screamed out in rage again, as he brought down half a wall charging at Itachi. The older Uchiha was quicker. Duh. He grabbed Sasuke's arm just behind his Chidori and continued glaring at him. They stared at each other, the air thick with tension.

Suddenly out of no where Naruto started concentrating chakra. The nine-tails chakra. It was a terrifying sensation and it reminded em so much of the night Minato and Kushina had died. A night no one liked to remember, even though it was the night Naruto was born. That was a very sad thing, no one ever liked to celebrate his birthday. I always tried to send a present, but it usually wasn't more than an old drawing or something like that.

A loud snap broke the tension soaked silence and a scream of pain from Sasuke followed. Itachi had broken his younger brother's pols. 'Damn it!', the blonde shinobi screamed, but before he could start concentrating his chakra into any sort of dangerous technique, I charged at him, hitting his arm and sucking up his chakra via his charka points. 'Crap! Crap! What's going on?' Naruto shouted. I smirked at him, 'It's an... ability of the Hyuuga. I can steal your chakra.' I told him, flashing a mock grin. He stared at me, his eyes wide with fear, 'Now that you can't use your jutsu anymore, you shouldn't be any trouble.' I got my Katana off my back, 'First... Hmmm... Should I cut off a leg or an arm?' Naruto tried to focus his chakra again, even though it was far out of his reach for the time being. I swung up my Katana again, but when I brought it down, it didn't come into contact with Naruto.

A huge toad stood before me, holding up his arm to block my Katana. 'You don't seem to know very much about me,' the summoner of the toad, none other than the legendary ninja himself told us, 'I'm better at getting the girls then they are at getting me. Even though it might not look like it, that is my speciality.' He paused before striking a ridiculous pose, 'I, Jiraiya, this image of manliness! I will fall for no woman's feminine traps! When you're someone like me. you'll only have to flash that sexiness to have women fall at your feet!' It was silent for a second before Naruto pointed his finger at him and raised his voice, apparently forgetting that there were still two S-class criminals standing in the same hallway, 'Oh yeah? That girl just winked at you and you were scampering after her! And now you're trying to look all cool and classy - you pervy sennin!' 'Hey can't you stop calling me that in front of others?' Jiraiya shouted back, 'Screw that! It's those guys over there we should be worrying about, pervy sennin!' Okay, apparently not. Their staring contest was broke when Sasuke groaned and they finally looked up.

'Haha, if it isn't Jiraiya, one of the three legendary ninjas. It's been a long time... I think the name really suites you, though.' 'You know the pervy sennins real identity?' Naruto exclaimed in some sort of reluctant amazement. 'Er... not really, I wouldn't call that a real identity...' I rolled my eyes, 'In any case, it seems you have already undone the genjutsu binding that woman. I thought she would have distracted you longer...' I told them and Jiraiya frowned at me, bending down to carefully put the woman down on the ground, out of harms way, 'You guys wanted to draw me away so you used the sharingan to cast a genjutsu on the woman, huh? I would have never suspected you'd agree to something like that Hitomi, Minato would have been disappointed.' I just grinned at him, ignoring how much the words really stung. Would Minato really have been disappointed in me? If he knew what really was going on... what would he think? I could only hope he would understand. If I ever got to see him again in some sort of afterlife - if it existed - I hoped I would be able to explain.

It was silent for a moment before Jiraiya turned on us again, 'So, you really are after Naruto...' I could see the shock on Naruto's face, he still looked absolutely terrified. 'No wonder Kakashi knew about this...' Itachi mused, mostly to himself but loud enough for everyone to hear, 'You were the source of information...' Jiraiya didn't answer, so Itachi continued, 'To abduct Naruto... those were the orders given to us by the leaders of our organisation.' '... You won't get Naruto.' Jiraiya told us, his face very dark. 'And why not?' Itachi questioned. 'Because right now, right here, you two will die by my hand.' Jiraiya told us, the killer intent already rolling off him in waves. 'Don't do it.' The voice took me by surprise and I could immediately feel Itachi stiffening beside me as Sasuke slowly got up.'This guy...' Sasuke continued, 'Is mine!'

Itachi let out an audible sigh, 'I have absolutely no interest in you right now.' Naruto moved, but Sasuke shouted at him, 'Naruto! I told you... Don't!' The blond ninja stared at him, taking an involuntary step backwards. 'This fight is mine.' Sasuke repeated. Itachi sighed again, turned around and slowly started walking towards Sasuke. The younger Uchiha looked like he couldn't take it anymore, 'Come on!' he shouted at Itachi. Itachi obliged. He raised his knee to bring it down hard in sasuke's stomach, before he slammed Sasuke down to the ground, raising his foot in time to kick him up in the air again. Before he fell down again, Itachi grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall. 'No mercy at all...' I muttered. A small distance away Naruto was positively growling, wanting to pounce, but holding himself back because of what Sasuke had said earlier.

Itachi stared at Sasuke, who was still pressed against the wall. It was dead silent for a few seconds before Sasuke screamed out in pure agony. My head whipped around. , even though I could see everything perfectly with my back turned on them, 'Itachi!' I paused for a moment, trying not to raise my voice, 'You can't... shouldn't use that jutsu so often. Especially not on one day.' I told him through clenched teeth. Behind me Naruto really was growling now, before finally shouting out, 'Assholes!' as he charged forward. I turned around to stop him, but stopped myself once I felt a strange chakra in the air. The walls were being swallowed up by what looked like the insides of something, raw and pink. 'Ninja art - Binding toad mouth!' ah. so that's it. I had heard of that jutsu before, but I had never expected to be caught inside of it myself. 'Too bad, Itachi... Hitomi. You are already inside my stomach!'

That sounded incredibly revolting, I quickly glanced at Itachi, silently asking what to do. He didn't look at me, though and spoke to his younger brother instead, 'You are still so weak... It's still not enough... your hatred.' Jiraiya in turn ignored what Itachi had said and addressed everyone, 'Forbidden jutsu to summon the oesophagus of the giant toad from Myouki mountain, rock inn', he said glaring, 'You S-ranked criminals... I hope you enjoy being food to Iwagama!' I glanced at Itachi again, and this time he glanced back. Well, following his lead it was. 'Wha... What the heck is going on here?' Naruto questioned the sennin, his surprise at being inside of a toad's stomach making him forget his fear for a moment, 'Naruto, stay still! Don't worry, it's just my jutsu!'

I couldn't help but scowl. Just his jutsu. It was one of the most lethal jutsu I knew, once you were caught inside there was no escape. Unless you were traveling with a certain Uchiha of course. 'Hitomi, come!' Itachi ordered, I immediately obeyed, 'Right!' Pulling my Katana loose from the toad stomach - which made a disgusting squelching noise - I ran after Itachi, wondering what exactly his plan was. 'No one sneaks away without me knowing!' Jiraiya called after us, and the walls of flesh - ew. - began closing in around us. The pinkish warm flesh almost filled the entire hallway, almost touching us. Itachi was faster though, 'Amaterasu!' My eyes went wide as soon as he uttered the words, but I quickly jumped after him all the same. Untouched by the black flames.

While we were speeding away from the small hotel I turned on Itachi. 'What the hell was that about?' I hissed at him, furious. 'What do you mean?' He asked me, a perfect monotone voice. I closed my eyes for a moment, controlling my anger and making sure not to shout out, before grabbing his hand and teleporting us to a forest on the other side of the fire-country where a I had made a seal on the branch of an old oak tree. A secluded place where nobody ever came. A place where I could shout at Itachi without fear of being heard by nosy civilians, or worse. It was lush and very green and quite beautiful, but I didn't pay enough attention to notice. As soon as we were steadily standing on the fround I started shouting at again, 'You used Tsukuyomi twice and you used Amaterasu! In one day! What the fuck is wrong with you?' He silently glared at me, refusing to be scolded like a child by his mother when he'd worn the same pair of trousers for a week.

'It was necessary.' He told me in the same monotone voice. 'No it wasn't! Itachi, you could have gotten seriously injured!' I shouted at him, making no effort at all to control my anger now. 'Why do you care so much what happens to me?' He suddenly asked, still glaring. 'Are you serious?' I asked, frustrated and slightly irritated. Well, slightly... very irritated. 'Because you're the only one left I can trust.' I told him, this time having no trouble at all with keeping my voice quiet this time, 'I know how selfish I am Itachi, but I don't want to lose you.' He stared at me, an incomprehensible expression on his face. Finally, after at least half a minute of silence he spoke up, 'Why do you trust me?' I swallowed, 'Because... you've never given me reason not to. Because you've never lied to me since we left Konoha.' He frowned at me, 'How do you know?' I smiled, 'Because I can see.' I said quietly, pointing at my eyes.

It was quiet for another five minutes. 'Hitomi...?' 'Yes.' 'Why did you help m- kill that ANBU ROOT shinobi... that night? I never got to ask you.' 'Because... I knew what was going on. And... about the burden you had to bear. It was too much of a burden to bear for just one person, so... I figured you deserved someone to support you. I know I'm doing a terrible job at it, but you should know I'm here. And I hadn't really planned it, you know. It just sort of... happened...' He was silent as he stared at me, again with that weird expression on his face.

Then he turned around and walked off. I quickly followed, feeling a bit offended, before I caught two words. No more than whispers, 'Thank you.'

* * *

><p>After that, we weren't sent on important missions for a long time. We did some bonding over the years though, and I had become even stronger, discovered branches of the Byakugan I wasn't even sure my uncle knew about. I actually was a bit proud of myself and I had secretly suspected Itachi had been so too. If only just a bit.<p>

Itachi... Well, over the years, Itachi and I had actually become - dare I say it - friends. At least, that was how I looked at it, he was my best friend. Those three years had a lot of... pleasant memories, but they were pushed away as a new, more vivid memory showed up. The first time I saw my brother again, since the night of the Uchiha massacre. The first time I saw Neji-nii again.

* * *

><p><strong>Phew. I really had trouble with this chapter.<br>The beginning just wouldn't... flow.**

**Anyway, I hope you still like it.**

**X, Faith Bell.  
><strong>


	11. Maito Gai

Itachi and I stood on a high mountain cliff. Dark clouds, lost somewhere between grey and black, swirled above us, creating a sombre mood. If it wasn't already. I wrinkled my nose against the foul stench that came from two corpses lying some distance away. 'Is this really necessary?' 'It is the only way to perform the jutsu. The only way to do this according to plan, on top of that, Pein ordered it, we don't have a choice.' I let out a sigh, 'You're right, I suppose.' I admitted tersely, even though I actually wanted to cry. I had learnt how to ignore the burning feeling of tears and how to not let them overflow some years ago. I had become quite good at it. Another sigh escaped my lips, 'Let's get this over with.' Itachi nodded again, the smallest thing akin to pity playing on his face, as he sat down on the rock, I followed his lead.

Perched upon that rock, hands clasped in the seal of the Ram. A funny feeling crept over me, I would never like the feeling of Mind Transfer jutsu's. I slowly - but steadily all the same - closed my eyes, my nerves, senses and feelings shifted. There was a sudden pressure under my right shoulder as I opened my eyes again, seeing that I was lying on the ground. I closed my eyes again though - and held them shut for several seconds as a wave of nausea washed over me. I certainly didn't like Mind Transfer jutsu's. I blinked my eyelids open again and saw that Itachi had extended his hand to me. I smiled slightly, grabbed his hand, and let myself be pulled to my feet. 'Thanks.' 'Hn.' He hadn't become more talkative over the years.

I needed to go southwards. Team Gai would be there and I would ambush them. Luckily, I didn't have strict orders to kill them, just to do either that or 'seriously delay them'. That was exactly what I was going to do. Seeing my younger brother again would certainly make an interesting conversation, I told myself, trying to keep taking things lightly, to make sure I didn't actively notice the nervous feeling brooding in my lower stomach. 'Good luck.' I told Itachi's "second" softly. He nodded in return, and we both ran off at the same time.

After one minute of running Itachi had to go further left than I did, and so we parted. As soon as my eyes couldn't see him anymore, I activated my Byakugan. I knew it was stupid, because I knew Itachi was an adequate fighter, perfectly - or even more so - capable of taking care of himself, yet I couldn't help but worry about him. He always was too rash with using dangerous techniques. Ugh, I sounded like I was his mom. Forcing myself to tear my mind away from him, I focused ahead, already spotting the 4-man squad.

There he stood. _Neji._

How he had grown. I couldn't see him clearly yet, but it was obvious he had gained a lot of height since I had seen him last. A huge smile spread over my face, just thinking about what he would look like now and... I quickly corrected myself, there shouldn't be a smile. There should be something like a sadistic grin. I ran even faster, I needed to see him again, I couldn't stop myself. I jumped up in the air, flipped over and landed right in front of him.

Neji stared at me, frozen in what seemed to be shock. Just behind him stood a girl with twin buns in her hair. She was wearing chinese styled clothes and looked slightly familiar. She'd probably been in the same class as Neji when he still attended the academy. When I was still a proper sister... The girl was fiercely glaring at me, one hand on Neji's shoulder in a comforting gesture and one hand hovering over her kunai holster - ready to pounce at any moment. Next to the girl stood Gai - who was giving me the same look as the younger girl - and a guy look-a-like. This was once again a situation where I would've laughed, had it been any different. It wasn't... I'd had a lot of those, laughter had all but left my life.

'Well, well, if it isn't Hitomi. I didn't think you would dare to show your face to us again.' 'That doesn't surprise me Gai, you've always thought like a coward.' It was obvious my words angered him, as well as the miniature version at his side. They shouldn't let themselves be provoked so easily...  
>All three of my brother's team mates obviously wanted to attack me, but they held themselves back, glancing at Neji. 'Hitomi...' He said softly after about a minute of tense silence. 'Yes?' I replied, the amused look on my face not at all giving away how I really felt - wuite the opposite of my expression. In all honesty, I just wanted to hug him. Of course, I knew I couldn't, but still.<p>

'Why... why did you do it? Was it because of Hiashi-sama?' He half-shouted at me, slight desperation lacing his words. It was eerily quiet for a while before I burst out laughing. And I realised. Neji hadn't hated me for what I'd done, for killing all those people or for abandoning the village. All this time he had tried to find and excuse for my actions. It was more than I deserved. My laughter died down and an amused grin slid on my face, 'That pitiful man? Of course not. I killed those filthy Uchiha's to test the capacity of my power. Simple as that. Of course, I would have killed the Hyuuga, but... the Uchiha's were simply stronger, so killing my own family would have been a waste of time.' his hope was squashed, I could read it clearly on his face and it hurt me more than I can possibly tell you.I watched as anger overtook him. His face contorted into a grimace of rage, before slowly shifting into a emotionless mask. That was what hurt me most to see, his blank face as he charged at me. A blank face that hid pain and sadness, desperation and loneliness.

I evaded him with ease and was quick to knock out both the girl and the mini-Gai. They didn't have the chance to put up a fight, it was better that way. I lunged at Neji, he did the same. Overpowering him, I knocked him aside. He flew a few foot away and hit a rock, not moving after impact. I swallowed hard when I saw a trickle of blood stream down his head, but forced myself to turn around and face Gai. A very angry Gai. He shouted at me that he didn't like people hurting his students. I hadn't liked hurting them either. The fight that followed was very long and I will spare you the details. While we were fighting, I slowly let the chakra I had, escape my body. It made me weaker and I tiered faster. Eventually Gai managed to wrestle me to the ground, where I lay worse for wear. Neji had woken up and came to stand before me.

'Well, do it then, Nii-chan. Kill me.' He stared at me and slowly shook his head, 'No. I won't kill my own family, no matter how... how disgusting they have become. I'll leave that to the Uchiha.' And he walked off. I almost smiled and a sense of pride washed over me. Of course, it shouldn't have, but I couldn't help it. 'Neji...' I said softly and I saw him halt, and slowly turn around. Gai, who still towered over me was watching me suspiciously, ready to hand out the fatal blow if necessary.

'Neji,' I continued in the same soft voice, 'Do you remember what I told you, the night before I left?' He was now staring at me, nodding slowly with an angry, confused look on his face. 'I still feel the same. It will never change.' And with those words and the last sight as his shocked face, I dispelled the jutsu. I had stalled them long enough.

* * *

><p>I'd returned to my own body with a start. Gasping I lay down on the mossy rocks, Itachi wasn't back yet. It hadn't taken long and after he'd returned, both of us had been summoned by pain immediately. For three days and three nights we stole the Shukaku and the life from the Kazekage. He was just a boy, about the same age as Neji...<p>

When we finally were done, we returned to that rocky mountain cliff and I told Itachi what had happened with Neji. Itachi had stared at me for a while when I'd told him what I'd told Neji. 'You shouldn't have said that.' He'd told me. And I had answered, 'I know.'

* * *

><p><strong>This is a bit of a short chapter, sorry about that guys. I have been really busy and am honestly writing when I've got the time, which obviously isn't very often. I do promise though, that the next chapter will follow a lot faster than this one did.<strong>

**x, Faith Bell.**

**PR-IHIAS (Please Review; It Helps Improve A Story)**


	12. Uchiha Hitomi

Itachi and I were in a forest somewhere near Iwa. We had just returned from a small bounty hunt Pein insisted we do. We were both sitting against opposite trees in a small clearing, a fire was merrily roaring between us, spreading a soft orange light. I was staring at Itachi, who was leaning backwards against the tree, his eyes closed. I was sure he could sense my eyes on him, but luckily, he was ignoring it. I thought about our relationship, the trust that had grown between us. But... Not only the trust, the need as well. Because I was sure, that if Itachi wasn't here, I would never be able to keep up my facade. I wondered if he knew how I felt about him, and I wondered if he felt the same.

I stared at him and I saw him shiver slightly. I wanted to hug him. I honestly wanted to wrap my arms around him and keep him warm. I didn't know where the overwhelming feeling came from, but the urge was just strong. So I gave in. Slowly and ever so carefully, I stood up. I walked through the grass, that almost looked orange in the dim light our fire provided. It rustled and Itachi stirred, but he didn't open his eyes. Somehow, this gave me confidence. Because I knew, he must trust me too. Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed me to come so close while he had his eyes closed. Although I was quite sure that Itachi could still kill me, albeit with some effort, if I tried anything.

When I stood next to him, I soundlessly sat down. 'Hey.' I said quietly. 'Hello.' Itachi replied, and I could hear some level of amusement in his voice. I couldn't help but smile at his answer. He almost never replied with "Hn." anymore. Actually, he only did it if we were in the company of others or when he was feeling uncomfortable or irritated. Because, yes, I was able to read him like that now.

When I didn't continue speaking, a small thrown appeared on Itachi's face and his eyes opened. 'Is something wrong?' He asked me quietly. I shook my head. 'No... Not, wrong.' I let out a sigh, and mustering up a fair amount of courage, I wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his strong chest. Again, it was quiet for a while. 'What are you doing?' Itachi asked finally, a small trace of surprise in his words. 'I'm not sure...' I breathed, 'do you mind?' A small smile played on Itachi's lips. 'Not particularly, no.' I smiled as well.

We lay like that for a long time. When finally, I sat up. I sat next to Itachi facing him, as he frowned softly. 'What is it?' He asked, seeing my expression. I swallowed hard, wondering if I could say it out loud. 'You... You're going to-' I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I don't think I could do it. I felt Itachi take my hands in his and I opened my eyes again. 'Hitomi... You're the bravest person I know. What could possible scare you this much?'

For a second, I stared at him in disbelieve. How on earth could he know, when I was trying to hide it so badly, that I was afraid? I took another deep breath. 'You'regoingtolethimkillyou.' I said, as fast as I could. Another deep breath. 'Aren't you?' I asked him, and almost accusing tone in my words, as a mask, to hide the desperation behind them. Itachi closed his eyes and leaned his head backwards against the trunk of the tree. He said nothing. I swallowed, I was getting anxious now. After almost ten minutes, I spoke up, 'Itachi?'

Itachi sighed, 'Yes.' he said. 'Yes, I am going to let him kill me.' The calm way he spoke those words shocked me. They shocked me and they scared me. How could he speak about death like it was nothing. Didn't he know there were people that cared about him? Perhaps he didn't. I was going to ask him, but he beat me to it. Like he always did. 'What I don't understand, however, is how this can possible scare you so much. You have become a very fine Kunoichi. You will be more than able to handle the Akatsuki, if does come to something like that.' He told me. I shook me head again. 'No. No, that's not... Itachi, I don't _want_ you to die.'

It took me a lot of courage to say that and I am really glad I did. He stared at me and I almost believed I saw something akin to shock in them. Almost. 'You... You really care that much?' He asked me, and this time there was definitely surprise in his voice. 'Yes!' I told him, too quickly. He just continued to stare at me, bemused. After a while he sighed, 'Hitomi... Hitomi, I don't want to leave you.' My eyes went wide. I felt my cheeks heating up, and I didn't know why. Did he really _care_ about me? As in actual _care?_ I mean, I know we were friends at that point, maybe even good friends. Well, okay, _very _good friends. And I knew that he felt the same way about it. But this was still surprising. That wasn't an excuse for my body language though, was it? 'But I have to.' And my heart sunk. Not just to my stomach. No, right through. So far, I couldn't even feel it anymore. And even though I felt like that, I forced a smile, 'I know.' I told him, 'I understand.'

Itachi sighed again, 'Hitomi, please don't.' he said. 'Don't what?' I asked, a fake cheery tone in my voice, that hurt even my own ears. Or perhaps it only hurt my ears. I hoped so. I hoped he didn't hear it. 'Force yourself to smile. You can be yourself, you know... Because you, the real you, is so beautiful.' And the feeling was back. Despite the fact that I knew I would lose him, lose the person I cared fore so deeply, right now was almost perfect. It had been a lot better if Itachi hadn't just announced his death, of course.

I smiled at him, a real, genuine smile this time. 'Itachi.' I said softly. 'Yes?' He replied, in the same tone. 'I will be there with you every step of the way, and I will support you, just like I promised.' I sighed and made to stand up again, but two strong hands gently pulled me down again. And I felt two soft lips gently touch mine. And at first I didn't fully register what was going on, but then... Itachi's lips. Itachi was kissing me. And utter shock came over me. Not just shock, though. Shock and a very warm, very happy feeling. A very warm and very happy feeling that was almost instantly crushed.

I pushed him away, 'Stop it.' Because I did not think it could be true. For some reason, I felt almost betrayed by him. This time I was sure of it, this time there was shock in his eyes. Genuine shock. 'Hitomi, I'm... I'm sor-' 'No.' I interrupted him. 'Listen, I don't want you to force yourself to do anything either, okay? You don't have to-' His lips were on mine again, cutting of whatever futile excuses I was making. As his lips left mine, he quickly spoke up, cutting me off before I even had the chance to say something. 'Hitomi,' he almost whispered, 'I want to do this. I've wanted to do this for longer than you can imagine. And please, the time we still have together... Let's make the absolute best of it.' I smiled and I felt a tear leak out of my left eye. Surprised, I wiped it away. I looked up at Itachi's eyes. Eyes that were filled with more emotion than I had ever seen before. Loneliness, hope, desperation, but most of all, love.

At that moment, I felt we could defeat the world. If we would just did it together. Even after he would sacrifice himself, Sasuke would come back to Konoha, the Akatsuki and Orochimaru would be defeated and finally, _finally_, there would be peace. And the beautiful thing was, I had no idea how incredibly wrong I was. Back then, I just enjoyed the moment. I enjoyed it more than I had ever enjoyed any moment. Ever.

I leaned forwards again and wrapped my arms around Itachi's neck, putting my forehead to his. I looked him in the eye and without one trace of fear, doubt, insecureness, I told him, 'I love you.' Only realising the true meaning of those words and how honest and genuine my feelings were as I said it. His eyes widened just a little bit and then the warmest smile I had ever seen broke through on his face. A real, honest to god smile. Not a small smirk or a grin, like he always did, a real smile. The same smile appeared on my face, as he moved his lips to mine once again.

* * *

><p>And that was, without doubt, the best night of my life.<p>

* * *

><p><strong> Well, hello there.<strong>

**Still remember who I am? No? Doesn't really surprise me.**

**Dear readers/subscribers/reviewers, I am so sorry it has been so long since the last chapter. I have been incredibly busy with school and the theatre and singing and it has been a great kind of busy, but a very busy kind of busy all the same. **

**I hope you enjoyed this small chapter, the next one will be a lot longer, I promise. And it will come by a lot faster than this one did. Also, it's almost time for summer holidays, so I will have a lot more time to write. Although I will be joining camp NaNoWriMo in August. **

**I think, however, that I will be finished with this story in August, because it isn't going to last that long anymore. I think, after this one, there will be three or four - albeit long - chapters. But not to worry, a sequel has been planned. Naturally, I can't give away any details yet, but it's going to be great.**

**I've also got to apologise for my tardiness concerning the "Hall Of Fame" on my profile wall, I will probably have time to edit it this Saturday, because, yes, I am really very far behind. Oh, and I apologise for the lame name of this chapter, because, - if anyone had hoped for it, I'm sorry -, but no, there will be no marrying. At least not in this story. **

**If anyone has a better idea for the title (maybe Japanese god(dess) of love or something?) please review. Any good idea will probably be used. One rule though, it has to be a name. **

**Ah, yes, it's a bit to o soon to be making any promises, but I _think_ I will be re-writing the first couple of chapters from this story, filtering out the grammar mistakes and adding some new content and all that. Also, if anyone is interested, I am a Beta. **

**Well... I think that is all for now. If there are any questions or anything else, just press that beautiful blue review button. Because, yes, constructive criticism is much desired. **

**Thanks for reading my rant and of course my story,**  
><strong>I sincerely hope you are enjoying it (the story of course, not the rant),<strong>

**x, Faith Bell. **


	13. Yamato

It had indeed been a long time since Itachi and I had seen or heard anything from Konoha shinobi. Or renegade ones. Or any other news from anyone outside our missions, really. That was, until we were at a meeting in one of the cozy caves Pein saw fit to extract beasts from people. I had been absolutely horrible and it had taken ages - meaning a grand total of eight days - before the job was finally done.

When Itachi and I were standing outside, just about to leave, not really caring where to, a certain man who had dubbed himself Tobi showed up. He wasn't really keeping up his hyperactive child act, though. He addressed me first, 'Hitomi, it has been a long time. I am glad to see that Itachi was right, you are indeed a valuable asset to the Akatsuki.' I swallowed, not feeling glad the founder of the Uchiha clan had just complimented me at all. He was still just as scary - no, wrong choice of words - _terrifying_, as he had been little over six years ago. Yes, it really had been that long. 'It is an honour to be praised by you, Madara-sama.' Now that, was an even worse choice of words. The orange-masked man snarled at me and in an instant I had been pulled behind Itachi.

'Oh,' Madara started, his tone too high, making an eery and still quite terrifying impression. 'What's this? Do you actually _care_ about this girl, Itachi?' Itachi was quiet for a while, his face remaining absolutely impassive. 'It is none of your business. What do you want?' Though I couldn't see it, not even with my Byakugan activated, I could just _feel_ the man smirk. 'Sasuke is dead.' Itachi froze, his jaw locked and for a second a look of pure terror crossed his features. I hissed, 'You're lying, you bastard.' Itachi's posture became slightly relaxed again, although he was still tense, full-out glaring at Madara. I almost - well, not really - felt sorry for him. No one wanted to be the subject of Itachi's glares, not even fellow Uchihas. Of course, Madara wasn't even fazed. Instead he slowly turned his head to me, and I could see his Sharingan glowing through the single hole in his mask. 'You would be wise to keep your mouth shut, child.' I, being the stupid shinobi I am, totally ignored him. Because I realised something. Something that I had all but forgotten. The strange combination of Sharingan and orange had reminded me. 'You! It _was _you!' He snarled at me again, but I he didn't tell me to stop. Maybe he was slightly curious what I meant. I doubt it, though.

'_You_ controlled the nine-tails. I _knew_ I saw a sharingan in it's eye! Minato is dead because of _you._' I was ready to pounce that instant, but Itachi's hand had a steady, very strong - and pretty painful - grip on my arm. '_Stop it, _Hitomi. Do not concern yourself with things you have no knowledge of.' I glanced at Itachi, saw how his jaw was locked, how his whole body was tensed. I took a deep breath, 'I'm sorry.' I said, 'I'll... Wait over there.' I turned around and walked into the forest, sitting down against a random tree.

I was stupid, wasn't I? But in my defence, I had been extracting a ginormous monster from a poor Jinchuuriki for eight days straight. I was incredibly tired, and really, I had very little patience. Or anything else, at this moment. Two minutes later Itachi walked through the trees I was facing, a pained look on his face. I was on my feet immediately. 'What's wrong?' He shook his head slowly, 'Not here.' I nodded, extending my hand towards him. He grabbed it without hesitation, and I transported us to a cave on the outskirts of the Country of Rice. I almost literally collapsed on the ground. I had _no_ chakra left. Well, that was a bit of an overstatement, if I really wouldn't have any chakra left, I'd be dead.

Itachi sat down next to me, the pained look still present on his features. 'What is it?' I asked, an even more serious look on my face now. 'Madara... He... He doesn't want me to die.' he admitted, the frown on his face deepening. I knew it was incredibly selfish, but hope sparked in my chest. It almost felt like I was lighter. Being very careful to not betray my feelings, I looked him in the eye, 'What are you going to do now?' I asked him carefully. 'Well...' he said slowly, 'maybe I shouldn't... Maybe there is another way.' I was immediately suspicious. 'What did that bastard say? Did he threaten you?' 'No.' Itachi said in his no-nonsense tone, that left no room for argument. It had been a long time since I had listened to that voice. 'Liar.' I said, glaring at him.

The Uchiha prodigy sighed, 'Hitomi, listen to me. It's complicated... If I were to go through with my plan... Madara... He... He will kill you.' My eyes grew wide with shock. 'What? Me?' Itachi nodded, his eyes closed. Probably unknowingly, one of the most desperate expressions I had ever seen him wear on his face. 'So what?' I said. His eyes snapped open, locking with mine. This once, I beat him to speaking. Cutting him of before he really had the chance to say something, 'You said I could take on the Akatsuki yourself, Itachi. You can't let _everything_ you've worked for go, just like that. I'm not going to allow it.' This is probably unnecessary to say, but the spark of hope I had felt just moments ago, had been extinguished, leaving me feeling cold and hollow.

'You can't handle Madara!' Itachi exclaimed angrily, 'I couldn't even possible ha-' 'I know.' I cut him off, 'I know that.' His eyes grew slightly wider, an unbearably sad emotion in them. He always caught on so fast. 'You'll die.' He told me, sounding like the words physically hurt him. 'Yeah,' I sighed, 'but really, life isn't worth living that much, you know, if you're not there.'

That was the first time Itachi ever hit me.

It wasn't just a playful push either. By the time I'd managed to scramble upright again, I was coughing blood into my hand. There were tears in my eyes. 'What the hell are you doing?' I managed to hiss, albeit rather weakly. And the tears were seriously threatening to overflow now. Did he not realise what I had just said? Did he not realise how genuine I had been when I had said that? Because honestly, I couldn't possible imagine a life without him being by my side now. It just didn't work. Itachi was suddenly in front of me, grabbing my shoulders with an almost painful force. I looked up to meet his eyes, a hurt expression in mine. It changed to shock however, when I saw his face. Because he didn't have tears in his eyes, no, he had tears on his face, his expression was so desperate it hurt me to even look at him like that. 'Don't you realise what you mean to me?' he almost choked out. 'Don't you dare ever talk about dying like that ever again.' I stared at him.

And I was angry. 'No!' I shouted at him, noticing with slight astonishment that I was still able to shout. 'No! Stop being so goddamned selfless all the time!' Itachi stared at me in shock, and for the first time since I'd met him, he was lost for words, 'You mean just as much to me.' I said, tears now finally brimming over the edge, streaming down my face and hitting the ground with odd, cheerful sounds, that didn't fit the situation at all. 'Do you have any idea how much it hurts me to know you are going to die, and not being able to do a fuck about it?' He still didn't answer. 'It hurts!' I shouted at him, 'It hurts so much! And then here you are, telling me you can't, because I _might_ get hurt! Stop it, just stop it! Just tell me what you want for once, let me make a sacrifice!' I continued to shout, desperation dripping of my words.

'No.' Itachi said. 'No. Maybe you really don't realise it, but you have made too many sacrifices for me already...' He was quiet for a while as I stared at him, and he stared outside. At the beautiful rice fields that looked so peaceful, so much the opposite of the mood in this dark cave. '...don't worry about it.' He told me, 'don't worry. I will make sure Madara won't hurt you.' I let out a soft whimper of... Everything. All of the emotions I had bottled up since my mothers death.

And then I cried. I cried like I had never cried before. No gentle sobs and lonely tears. No, heart-raking screams - half choked as I struggled to breathe in between - ripping from my throat. And Itachi just held me. He just held me and he knew exactly what I needed. Because, really, everything was just pent up emotions I couldn't let out earlier, I had never been able to let out. That, and worry. I had been more worried than I had ever been in my entire life and I couldn't do a thing about it. I felt so pathetically helpless. Because I was always too scared to show my weakness. Yet, with Itachi here, with him showing his weaknesses so openly, with him being the one who was truly strong. I just felt so protected, so safe. And I felt like it was safe to be me, to really be me, and to let out, what I had never been able to let out. To scream what I had never been able to scream. And that's how I fell asleep, sobbing into Itachi's chest.

When I woke up the following morning, I felt strangely peaceful. It didn't last long. I opened my eyes, and tried to remember how I'd ended up in a cave. I realised what had happened last night at about the same time I realised Itachi wasn't there. 'Fuck.' I cursed, quickly getting on my feet. I stalked towards the entrance of the cave as fast as I could, but I had to lean against the cave wall for a few seconds when my vision got blurry. I'd gotten up too quickly. When I was at the entrance, I wrapped my arms around myself against the harsh wind. It was uncharacteristically cold - ironically, it also fitted my mood perfectly. Sighing I activated my Byakugan, hoping he was just scouting and letting me rest for once. He wasn't. I couldn't find him anywhere, nor could I sense his chakra. Sighing I sat down on the hard ground. So, he'd gone... But where?

Then it struck me, 'don't worry. I will make sure Madara won't hurt you.' He'd said. Was that what he was doing? It had to be. I groaned in frustration, didn't he listen? Couldn't he stop being so incredibly selfless? I had to find him. I had given him a flying thundergod seal a long time ago, would he still have it? Not if he didn't want me to find him. There was of course the possibility he had forgotten about it, but chances seemed very slim.

I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on that particular seal. I couldn't. I let out a rather colourful string of swearwords before sitting down again. What was I supposed to do now? I sighed and closed my eyes, scanning the area again, to see if I could find any familiar chakra patterns. I did. An achingly familiar one. Not exactly the one I wanted to find though. Kakashi. Hinata-sama was also there. That could turn out to be rather troublesome, considering the seal on my forehead. I let out a sigh. What I was about to do was incredibly stupid, I knew that, but at that moment I wasn't really able to think rationally. I was absolutely convinced that Itachi was in danger. Thinking people I cared about were in danger made me do stupid things. I was just born that way.

I sighed again, made the hand seal, and flickered towards them. I was only a couple of meters ahead of them, in a tree, concealing my chakra. They didn't come much closer, though. Kakashi abruptly stopped, throwing out his hand to signal the rest to do the same. Naruto let out a growl of frustration. 'We've lost enough time already, Kakashi-sensei, we need to find Sasuke-teme, NOW.' Ah, so they were searching for Sasuke? That meant the small group of people they had assembled were specialised in tracking. How convenient. Kakashi threw Naruto a look that effectively shut him up and turned back around to my general direction. 'Show yourself.' He said rather loudly, 'There is no use in hiding, we know you are there.'

I took a deep breath and jumped down from the tree I was standing in. The entire group, save for Kakashi, took an involuntary step backwards. Was my reputation that bad? I looked around the group. There were eight of them, not counting Kakashi's Ninken. Four of them I recognised, Kakashi, Naruto, Hinata-sama and - to my surprise - Yamato. It had been awfully long since I had seen him last. I was sure he'd heard all the bad stories and rumours about me. Naruto had also grown. He looked so much more mature than last time I saw him. He also resembled Minato more than ever before. 'Hello there.' I said, a terribly fake airy tone. Kakashi frowned at me. I quirked an eyebrow. 'What's wrong?' I asked, that fake smile on my face. He didn't answer, instead Naruto turned to Kakashi and started speaking to him in a hushed tone I suppose I wasn't supposed hear. 'She looks off, Kakashi-sensei, I bet we could take her out.'

It was my turn to frown. 'Are you insulting me, blondie?' I asked in a tone that sounded mildly threatening. He quickly shook his head. I sighed, 'Shadow clone Jutsu.' I sighed. All of them immediately lowered into fighting stances. 'Geez, relax. I just haven't got a mirror with me.' No one relaxed. I just rolled my eyes and stared at my shadow clone. I _did_ look bad. A lot of random strands of hair had escaped from my hair tie, I had gigantic bags under my eyes - I blame Pein for making me stay awake for 8 days straight - and I was paler than usual. Also my cheeks seemed to be a bit hollow. I made my shadow clone dissolve and turned back to the group. 'I _do_ look off, don't I? I see your point, Namikaze.'

Naruto stared at me in shock. Kakashi with and expression that was lost between exasperation and weariness. 'Oh.' I said stupidly, realising me mistake. 'I meant Uzumaki, of course.' I said quickly. Naruto snarled at me and was about to leap forwards, but Kakashi stopped him. 'Not now, Naruto.' He whispered. Naruto nodded reluctantly.

'Anyway,' I sighed, 'It's a pleasure to see you again, Hinata-_sama_.' I said, making the "sama" sound rather mockingly. She just looked scared. I turned to Yamato, 'And you of course, it's been ages, hasn't it?' Kakashi growled, 'Don't try to stall us, Hitomi. What do you want?' 'Hm, good point, again. I'm actually in quite a hurry. I have no intention to stall you, though. You are looking for Sasuke, aren't you?' 'Yeah.' Naruto said, somewhat anxiously. 'Great!' I exclaimed, clapping my hands together. I must seem pretty insane to them now. 'In that case, I've got a deal for you. You see, I kind of... Lost... Track of Itachi, and I can't seem to find him.' Okay, I have to admit, that didn't sound very legit. It was close enough to the truth though. 'So, you help me find Itachi. I _tell_ you what Sasuke's next move is going to be.'

Kakashi snorted, 'And why should we trust you?' I sighed, 'Just ask Hinata-_sama_.' I told him, pronouncing "sama" the same way I had before. 'W-what?' Hinata-sama squeaked, obviously startled. 'What?' I asked her, most degrading tone possible. I mean, I didn't _want_ to hurt her self-esteem, but I was supposed to hate her, wasn't I? 'Are so weak you can't even sense when people are lying or not? That's honestly one of the most basic Byakugan techniques.' A blotchy red crept up her cheeks, but she nodded. 'No, I can do that.' she turned to Kakashi-sensei, 'She was speaking the truth before, Kakashi-sensei.' Kakashi nodded at her, a kind expression in his eyes. It didn't seem to help the young Hyuuga. 'You could have just said so immediately', I scoffed. 'Moving on thou-' I cut myself off, looking left, sensing someone walking. Or rather something. Paws... Sounded like a hare. 'What is it?' Kakashi questioned, throwing me a suspicious look. 'Nothing', I told him quickly, 'Just a hare.'

Do we have a deal, or don't we?' I asked, I was getting rather impatient now. Even though I had stalled quite a bit. I hoped it would have given Sasuke more of a chance to move on. Kakashi looked like he was about to decline my offer, when Naruto interjected. 'Yes.' Kakashi turned around to frown at Naruto. 'I know what I'm doing,' he said in the same hushed tone I was pretty sure wasn't meant for my ears, 'just trust me.' Kakashi sighed, 'fine.'

'Marvellous,' I said, clapping my hands together in the same manner I had before. 'How are we going to do this?' Naruto immediately spoke up, 'I'm going to use mass shadow clone, to find him. We'll just split up in a lot of directions, we'll definitely find him that way. You're going with the real me!' I nodded. 'No, Naruto. You're not going with her alone. She's in the Akatsuki, remember? You're kind of wanted.' Yamato spoke up. Kakashi nodded, to show he agreed. I sighed, 'I swear I won't harm Naruto until he has found Sasuke.' I told them, glancing at Hinata-sama, who nodded at Kakashi. He sighed, 'Fine, let's go.' And so we split up. That was rather easier than I had expected it to be. And Naruto had seemed a bit too keen to go with me.

'So,' I sighed, 'what do you want to talk to me about that is important enough that you would risk being separated from your little gang?' The blonde Jinchuuriki glared at me, 'I want to know what you know about my father.' I sighed again, 'Yeah, I expected something like that.' I took a breath, activating my Byakugan. 'Damn,' I said softly, 'A rabbit, not a hare.' Naruto stared at me, 'Just tell me already.' 'Fine.' I said, coming to a stop on the ground. Naruto stopped as well, making sure to be a safe distance away from me. 'Your father was one of the closet friends I've ever had. Apart form Kakashi. Oh, don't look at me like that. I learnt a lot from Minato. Also, I used to pretty close to your mom. After my own mother died, she was like a second mother.' I briefly closed my eyes, realising that I was saying a little too much. I took a breath and let out a humourless hollow laugh, 'I guess they didn't have a good influence on me. You were pretty lucky they didn't get to raise you.' I told him, a wicked grin on my face.

Naruto's expression contorted to one of rage, 'How da-' he was cut off mid sentence, though, as the Uchiha we had been looking for stepped out from behind a tree. I glanced at Itachi and looked back at Naruto. 'Well, Jinchuuriki boy, it's been a pleasure. But since Itachi found us, not the other way around, I'm afraid I can't go giving you any information on Sasuke.' Itachi stared at me. His blank gaze turning into a glare. A furious glare. I took an involuntary step backwards. I know what I had done was kind of stupid, but was he really that angry with me?

Itachi ignored me and turned to Naruto, 'How convenient Hitomi has brought you here, Jinchuuriki. This will make my plans a lot easier.' A flash of fear was visible in Naruto's eyes as he stared at me. 'You gave me your word, you wouldn't do anything.' he said. 'Er, yeah, well, technically, if Itachi does something, it's neither my fault nor my responsibility.'

Naruto swallowed, 'Finally going to try and capture me?' He asked Itachi. 'No...' Itachi drawled, 'I merely want to talk with you.' Naruto took a step backwards as two of his shadow clones jumped out of the trees behind Itachi, jumping at him. Itachi took both of them out with kunai without even looking at them. I frowned, I hadn't even noticed the shadow clones until Itachi took them out. Either I was getting rusty, or Naruto had made a heck of a lot progress since I last saw him. It was definitely the former. Maybe a bit of both, though. I was awakened from my thoughts by Naruto, 'Like I'm going to fall for that.'

'I see you've learnt a little about fighting the Sharingan,' Itachi spoke leisurely, 'You ought to know what's the best thing to do when you're fighting alone. Why aren't you running?' Naruto scoffed, 'Because with me, my numbers can be anywhere between 1 and 1000!' He smirked. 'And, I can't afford to run this time. I've got to capture you so I can find Sasuke!' Itachi frowned, 'What is it about my brother that makes you care about him so much? He is a rogue ninja who abandoned you. 'Because he is like a brother to me...And I'm a better brother than you ever were.' He told Itachi, and the genuine, honest look in his eyes took me slightly of guard. Even though I did seriously doubt wether he was a better brother than Itachi. Actually, scratch that, I knew he wasn't. It was incredibly hard to top Itachi, though. The Uchiha smirked, and Naruto went completely still, his eyes widening. He had quite obviously been caught in Itachi's genjutsu.

I sighed and sat down against a tree, this would probably take a while. Time to mull things over a bit. First of all, what was with Itachi and that angry look? Had I done something wrong? I must have. Then again, I came here with Naruto, that must've looked pretty weird. Also, I was talking about his parents, which I don't think I was even allowed to do. I took a deep breath and leant my head back against the tree, closing my eyes. They almost immediately flew open again, though, as Naruto spoke. 'Wh-why? You're after me, aren't you? Then fight me now!' Itachi shook his head, even if the movement was hardly noticeable, 'I don't have time for you now, I've got a very important matter to deal with.' His hands were forming a seal. He was leaving. 'Oh no you don't!' I shouted, grabbing his hand and flickering us to a whole other part of the forest before he had the chance to use a jutsu.

'What is wrong with you?' I shouted at him, as soon as I could feel the solid forest floor under my feet again. He stared at me for a moment before he started talking, 'I could ask you the same thing. You could have ruined everything.' I was getting angrier by the second, 'Oh, yes, of course. Because that is what everything is about, isn't it? You and your stupid plans!' 'You said that you were afraid to ruin the plan yourself.' He retaliated. I was kind of losing it now, I still hadn't caught up on that much sleep either. I really was a bit off that day. 'Well maybe I was lying!' I shouted at him, 'And maybe I want to ruin your suicide mission!' Itachi was staring at me in confusion at this point. It was quite obvious that he didn't understand me. That didn't happen often. Actually, I think that was the only time it had ever happened. 'Because maybe I don't want to lose you!' I shouted at him, tears stinging my eyes.

Itachi still stood there, staring at me. Hurt was written all over his face and I didn't understand it. And then I realised that we just didn't understand each other. And I understood that that was not a good thing. 'You would betray me?' Itachi asked, trying to hide his hurt, but somehow still managing to make it painfully obvious. 'What? No, of course not.' The confused expression was back on his face, 'Then why-' 'Because I love you Itachi! I love you, okay? I don't want to lose you. I know I'm being extremely dramatic and maybe I just didn't get enough chances to be an idiot like this during my teenage years, bu-' I was cut off as Itachi's lips met mine in a tender kiss.

When we broke apart, Itachi looked me straight in the eyes, 'I love you more.' He told me. As soon as the words left his mouth, a warm, fuzzy feeling seemed to fill me from within. It made everything seem more beautiful, more peaceful. Love was a strange thing indeed. I sighed and locked my arms around Itachi's waist. 'I'm sorry.' I told him honestly, 'I'm so sorry. I promised you that I would support whatever decision you made, that I would have your back, that I would help you bear your burdens. I don't think I've been true to that promise lately.' He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, 'You have done more than I could have hoped or expected from you.' He told me. His lips moved to my forehead, and he gave me a soft kiss. 'Thank you.' I smiled, I could stand like that forever.

* * *

><p>I feel a sharp stab of pain in my stomach makes me cough up some blood. I try to raise my hand, but it simply hurts too much. Everything hurts. My limbs, my stomach, my eyes. The wounds on my face where tears have fallen into. It stings, it hurts. But most of all... Everything, no, everyone I have lost. I just want to stop. Stop thinking, stop feeling, anything to not feel this pain. I can't help it. I always try to not give up, to continue, to go on, but this time I simply can't do it. It hurts too much.<p>

* * *

><p>There it is, just like promised.<br>It does feels good to finally be able to life up to my promises. .  
>Oh, and give me a review when you normally wouldn't because it's the longest chapter yet?<br>Haha, don't feel obliged, though. (Even though it still would be great if you reviewed)

A funny thing was, there was this little moment in this chapter, when she realises Itachi isn't there and she's like, 'Fuck.' I can totally see myself waking up like that, only I'd be in my bed, and Itachi would be my clock saying: 9:29. Aka, it is now impossible for you to make it to school on time.

Also, complicated emotions are complicated.

Oh, and what did you guys think about my use of present and past tense? I thought it would make it a bit easier to differentiate between past and present. Also, it's just a lot of fun to write because, well, I never do it. I do have to re-read it like five times before I can trust myself with it, because I tend to sneak in these words in past tense, which cause the sentence to make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Still, I'm not sure if I should continue writing like that, even if it is fun, it's sort of... Weird. For me, at least. What do you guys think?

And, one last thing, if anyone has got a better title for the chapter that is now called "Uchiha Hitomi", please let me know. It has to be a name, though.

Please Review.


	14. Itachi Uchiha

Itachi and I were standing in a large stone room, inside of an Uchiha hideout. My stomach was churning and my legs were about to give out. Because this was the last time I would see Itachi. This was the last time I would see him alive. All I wanted at this moment, was more time with him. More time to look at him, to talk with him, to touch his hands, his face, his hair. More time to hug him and more time to kiss him. At that moment I would have given anything for more time. I knew the Mangekyou Sharingan wasn't an option, he was just about to enter a fight with Sasuke. A fight that wasn't going to end well for him, and we both knew it. Itachi's arms were locked around me tightly, while I clutched at him. Savouring the last moments I would get to spend with him, while warm tears cascaded down my cheeks as I tried not to cry out loud.

I could feel Itachi's lips moving to my forehead, and he pressed them against it. 'He's here,' Itachi whispered, 'it's time to go.' His voice sounded hoarse and broken, so unlike it's usual tone. A sucked in a shaking breath. 'I can't,' I croaked out, 'I can't do this.' Slowly Itachi pulled me out of the hug, to look me straight in the eyes. My vision was slightly blurry because of the tears stuck in my eyelashes, making them stick together. I quickly brought up my hand to wipe them away, I couldn't let my last look at Itachi be a blurry one. The thought alone almost made burst out in tears again. He rested his forehead against mine.

'Yes you can,' He told me softly, his voice no more than a whisper, 'you are the strongest person I know. You can definitely do this.' I breathed another shuddering breath. 'I'm going to miss you so much.' I told him, my voice cracking again. I simply couldn't bear the thought. What would I do? Where would I go? I was alone, and I was a hunted nin. I could never go back to Konoha, that was out of the question. I doubted I could survive the Akatsuki on my own. Not without Itachi by my side, not without him to keep me strong. But they wouldn't let me leave either. No way. At least, Madara wouldn't. There was no way I was going to get out of the Akatsuki alive. So I would just have to carry on doing missions. On my own, or with some new sadistic bastard as my partner, it didn't matter really. The only bright thought I had was that I could at least continue to protect Konoha to the best of my abilities. It was the only thought left giving me the strength to carry on.

'Yeah,' he said, 'me too.' I could see a tear rolling over his face now. I gulped, trying to keep my eyes from doing the same, 'I love you.' I told him, and this time I could no longer contain the tears, I could no longer stop them from flowing down my face. 'I love you more.' Itachi said, before pressing his lips against mine so briefly that I almost missed the moment. He turned around and walked a few steps away from me. 'Go now,' he said, 'please.' I nodded. 'Goodbye Itachi Uchiha,' I said, 'Goodbye.' And with that, without waiting for an answer, I turned and ran. Ran as fast as my legs would take me, away from the man I loved. The man I knew would die. The man I would never see again.

I skidded to a halt for a few seconds, using a quick and easy transformation jutsu to transform into a better version of myself. A healthier version. A version without tear stains on her face, a version that hadn't just seen the person she wanted to spend eternity with for the last time. I shook myself out of my wallowing self pity and continued running. I could hear a voice before I saw them, 'Wait!' a female voice shouted, 'Someone is approaching, fast!' Once they came into view, the small group had halted. Sasuke was leading the group. Oh, what I would have given to tell him the truth right then and there. But I knew I couldn't, I could never betray Itachi. Never.

One of them tried to say something, but I cut him off immediately, 'Sasuke-kun, if you would, please continue by yourself. Itachi would prefer it if the rest of us would wait here.' I said, an easy going, albeit fake, smile resting on my face. 'No problem,' Sasuke replied, not at all fazed by this message, 'I only formed this team to make sure that no one would interfere when I finally found him. This works out perfectly.' To be honest, I was glad it was like this. I really didn't fancy a fight right now. I wasn't in the right set of mind. 'That's crazy Sasuke!' The only girl in the group, so logically also the one from before, shouted. 'We should kick this guy's butt and fight Itachi together!' I heaved a deep melodramatic sigh and rolled my eyes, 'Listen up kids, I'm really not in the mood for another fight. I mean, what has a person got to do to get some rest in this fucked up world... If you really insist on passing together, though, I definitely won't go easy on you.'

'Don't even think about it, Karin.' Sasuke told her - ah, so that was her name - without so much as looking at her, 'You three are waiting here. This is _my_ revenge.' Karin growled, staring at me suspiciously, but Sasuke ignored her completely and jumped past me, on his way to Itachi. I had to close my eyes briefly and it took every ounce of self-control I possessed to not grab and stop him right then and there. Except I didn't. I let him go. I let him go and kill Itachi, and even thought I know I never would have stopped him, I could never forgive myself for doing this.

I stared at the three people standing in front of me, whom Sasuke had left behind. The girl named Karin had hair that was a fierce red colour, and glasses. It actually made her look a bit nerdy. She was staring at the point where Sasuke had vanished, jumped out of view. Taking a better look, I realised that we were standing on the rooftop of a large rectangular building. Sighing, I sat down on the protruding pillar I had been standing on.

'So,' I said slowly, successfully capturing the attention of the entire group, 'what hopeless and deprived force drove you all to travel with that godforsaken kid.' All I got in return of my statement were some angry glares. They seemed to tense or worried about Sasuke, especially the girl. Don't tell me that kid had actually made friends with some of Orochimaru's minions. That was certainly surprising, to say the least.

With a roll of my eyes - not that I think anyone actually notices when I roll my eyes - I turned around on the pillar, facing the side Sasuke had jumped off to, and activated my Byakugan. I was watching Sasuke run into the old Uchiha building now. Finally he skidded to a halt, and stared at Itachi. They were talking, but I was too far away to make out any of it. So I just sat there, and watched, hoping I would be strong enough to not burst out in tears.

I stared at the flames that erupted at the top of the building in awe and in horror. This was the most epic fight I had ever seen in my entire life, including the fight between Minato and the Nine Tails. Behind me, I could vaguely sense the three people moving around, probably staring at the flames as well. The were so big, and reached such height, that Byakugan wasn't necessary to watch anymore. At least, not this part of the fight. It didn't matter if they weren't staring at the flames anyway, if they were doing something else. I didn't really care about them. Actually, I really didn't care about them, or about what they were doing. It didn't matter anymore. None of it mattered anymore, I was watching Itachi die.

The worst thing about watching was probably the wrenching hope that was still spreading through my body. Because I had never seen him lose a fight ever, and somewhere, in the back of my mind, I was still hoping that he wouldn't lose this one either. I knew it was stupid, I knew he would never win, because he wasn't intending to, but I couldn't stop that feeling of hope engulfing me. I couldn't stop it and I knew, that if Itachi- no, when Itachi died, it would only make everything worse. Still, I couldn't help it. Because I just wanted it to be true so badly.

Quite suddenly, half of the flames turned black, until they were completely consumed by the Amaterasu and the flames died out. I closed my eyes briefly, willing the tears to stay back. The shrouds of chakra and distance were now too much for even my Byakugan to break through. I wondered how Itachi was, how badly he was injured, how close he was to his end. I wondered how Sasuke was, if he would be in any way suspicious of Itachi, or if Itachi would be able to keep his act up perfectly - as he always did. He could do it now, no matter how difficult this must be for him, I was sure he could do it now.

Out of nowhere, it started raining, and no more than 5 minutes later, it was thundering right above where Itachi and Sasuke were. 'What's going on?!' Karin asked frantically, worry obvious in her voice. 'How the hell are we supposed to know?!' One of the guys retaliated, somehow effectively shutting her up. They all wanted to watch this. Out of the air came an enormous dragon, made purely out of thunder. I stared at it in horror as it descended on the building, which exploded as soon as the thunder creature hit. All I could see was smoke, dust and rubble. The chakra in the air was so dense, and so thick, that using my Byakugan almost hurt by now. Deactivating it, I stood up, trying to get a better look at what exactly was going on. Was one of them dead already?

And then, all too sudden, the chakra vanished. Every last bit of it. I could feel it in the air, and it looked like the three people behind me could also feel it. I immediately activated my Byakugan again, staring at what had once been a majestic building. Everything that remained was rubble. Dust and rubble surrounded by a wall of black flames. I frowned, the black flames were hard to see through, but in the middle of them, I could just make out a slab of rock. In front of slab of rock lay Itachi and Sasuke, both on their backs, both unmoving. I wasn't able to make out which one of them was dead, which one was alive. Or if they were both dead or alive. I grounded my teeth together, until I realised that Itachi must still have that flying thunder god seal I gave him. I quickly made the hand signs, and tried to flicker towards him. It didn't work. It wasn't there.

I took a deep breath and flickered towards the black flames. They made up a tall, solid wall around the destroyed building. I stared at it, taking another deep breath. I had to do this, I had to get to Itachi, but if I messed up I would be burned alive. With another deep breath I made the required hand signs and flickered away. Gasping for breath, I quickly jumped away from the flames. I had succeeded, even if it was a very near miss. I stared at the flames for another moment, before shaking myself. Itachi. I had to find _Itachi._

I ran. I ran towards the stone slab, knowing exactly where it was. But when I got there, both the Uchihas were gone. I stared around wide-eyed. Did this mean they were alive? They had gotten away? I quickly activated my Byakugan again. They couldn't have gotten far. There was no one. At least, that was what I thought. The feeling of a hand on my shoulder made me swirl around in surprise and crouch down into a fighting stance, ready to attack whoever had sneaked up on me.

It was Uchiha Madara. I glared at him. 'What do you want?' I hissed, every word laced with venomous hatred. 'It surprises me you are still so bold, even when Itachi isn't alive anymore to protect you.' he said, and I thought I could detect just a hint of enjoyment in his voice. I snarled at him. In response, Madara chuckled. I glared at him, 'Aren't you going to kill me now?' I asked him, my voice betraying how much I truly despised this man standing in front of me, 'I know the truth. Don't you have to make sure it doesn't come out?'

The bastard chuckled again, 'Konoha is going to be destroyed soon. There will be nothing you can do about it.' And with that, he vanished. I stared at the spot he had stood just a moment ago, then I let myself slide down the slab of stone that had still remained standing. Gasping for breath, I tried to control the tears that were streaming down my cheeks, I tried to control the sobs forcing their way out of my lips, I tried to get some control over the hopelessness, the emptiness I was feeling. I didn't succeed. That was, until I heard rapidly approaching footsteps.

Somehow, in front of other people, keeping up an emotionless mask was easier. Like it was easier to lie to them than to lie to myself. I cleared my throat softly, and realised I still had a transformation jutsu going. I quickly released it in a puff of smoke, before refreshing it. It was all I could do to hope I wasn't looking the same way I was feeling. Then, before I had the chance to do anything else, the squad I had had a run-in with earlier on, appeared in front of me. The quickly came to a halt upon seeing I was the only person there. Naruto looked positively livid. 'Well, hello again.' I said tiredly, staring at them all.

No one looked sure about what to do, and the tension filling the air was so thick, someone could have cut it with a kunai, if they would have tried. They didn't, and Naruto was the one to break the tension. 'Where is he?!' He screamed at me, looking like he was using every ounce of self-control he possessed to not just attack me right then and there. I shrugged a bit of a non-comital manner. 'Not sure,' I drawled, 'could be anywhere really. M- Tobi took him off somewhere. That's the guy with the orange mask that looks like a carrot, by the way.' They all continued to stare at me, still not sure what to do with me.

Finally, after what seemed like way too long, Kakashi stepped forwards. 'So, he sent you here to deal with us, did he?' he asked suspiciously, grabbing a kunai behind his back. I heaved a heavy sigh, 'Gosh, Kakashi-_kun_, you always assume the worst of me, don't you?' I asked, placing an extra emphasis on the 'kun', not exactly sure why. Maybe I was just out to hurt him. Don't get me wrong, I just really didn't know what to do with myself anymore. It just felt like, if I was hurting someone else, my own pain seemed to lighten just a bit. So, I'm a sadist after all, aren't I? The only thing I was certain of at that moment was that I had to get to Konohagakure. I had to prevent Madara or The Akatsuki or whoever from destroying Konoha. I would never let anyone destroy the village Itachi had died protecting. Never, even if it cost me my life. Kakashi just narrowed his eyes at me again.

I raised my hands above my head in a sort of defensive manner, and slowly got on my feet again. The entire group immediately tensed, ready to attack at a seconds notice, if necessary. I sighed again, 'Alright, first of all. Kakashi, I've got no idea why you think it would work, but hiding stuff behind your back really doesn't, when you're facing someone who has, quite frankly, mastered the Byakugan. So honestly, don't even try. Second of all, no worries!' I exclaimed with a smile, which I knew must look rather disturbing. 'I have - I think - just officially quit the Akatsuki, so, I am neither here to delay you, nor am I here to finish you off. Actually, I was just sitting here. No real reason.'

It took another really long period of time before anyone answered this. Finally, it was Yamato who spoke up. 'Kakashi,' He said slowly, glancing at me, 'I think she has finally lost it. Just look at her. We should take her bak to Konoha.' Alright, so maybe my transformation jutsu hadn't worked that good the second time round after all. 'Oh, geez, thank Yamato. Really, just pretend I'm not here.' I muttered sourly, and that was exactly what they did, they ignored me completely. 'I don't know,' Kakashi answered him, in the same slow voice, 'It could be a trap. It wouldn't be beneath her to act like this, just to lure us into a false sense of security.' I glared at him and grumbled some more, but no one listened.

With a final sigh, I sat down on the ground again. 'Go ahead,' I said loudly, and rather sharply, making everyone's head snap around back to me. 'Take me to Konoha. It's not like I've got anywhere to go, anyway. You know, the Akatsuki aren't too keen on people who just quit, so go ahead and take me. Keep me safe for awhile. Protect me.' I told them, hoping this motive would at least make them trust me enough to take me back to Konoha with them. Only Naruto was positively snarling by now, and everyone looked at me with suspicion clearly written on their faces, except for Kakashi, who regarded me cooly. He had always been able to keep his head during every situation. Something I admired endlessly about him as well as Itachi. Itachi. I couldn't think about him right now, I would probably break into a heap of tears and sobs again.

'Alright.' Kakashi said finally, making everyone - including myself - look at him in surprise. 'We will take you to Konoha. Just don't expect any protection from the village elders or Ibiki-san. They will deal with you.' He said, still gauging my reactions carefully. Heh, the village elders. They would definitely want me dead. Especially Danzo. I knew the truth, and if that got out, it would be outright horrible for the village. There was no way they were risking that. I wondered how the Hokage would react, but it wasn't important right now. With a huff I turned to glare at Kakashi, 'Just don't expect me to _walk._' I told him, crossing my arms. I swear I almost saw him roll his eyes. 'Like we would trust you to,' he said as he slowly walked forwards, before placing an arm behind my shoulders and an arm beneath my knees, scooping me up in his arms.

To be completely honest, I was feeling a bit awkward. Kakashi was holding me in the exact same way as he would hold me when I was worn out after the two of us had trained together, and he had insisted on getting me home. My heart ached slightly when I thought about those times. When I was young, when everything was okay. When there was just Neji, Kakashi and my missions and that was all. When there wasn't so much as a worry in the world. But those days were over, I had grown up.

Another thing that made the situation awkward was the way everyone was staring at us, mostly surprise and disgust. I glared at them. None of them looked away. Apparently, while Kakashi was carrying me, I was seen as vulnerable. I sighed and glanced at Kakashi, who wasn't looking at me, but at his team mates, fellow shinobi from his village. His friends, people he trusted. And it just hurt so much knowing that I would never be able to be a part of that anymore. He would never ever trust me again. I couldn't blame him, and I had never expected him to, but it just hurt so much.

'Let's go.' Kakashi said, sounding just a tad bit harsh, and after a small moment of uncertainty, everyone started moving. I glanced at Kakashi again, enjoying the strength and protection of his arms around me. It wasn't like our friendship could ever be restored again, and I knew that, but god, did that man make me feel safe. In this moment, it felt like I had my very best friend back again, and with no one paying me any mind, I lent against his chest, and sobbed as quietly as I could, hoping that no one would notice, as we carried on towards Konoha. I would not let Madara destroy my home. Not the home Itachi and I had spent all those years fighting for, all those years of protecting it from the shadows. I would not let him destroy the home Itachi had died to protect.

* * *

><p>With a huge amount of effort, I raise my head, and glance at Naruto. He is looking me, his face marred with shock, confusion and anger. I smile slightly, before another coughing fit comes over me, and my dirty clothes become even dirtier, now almost totally crimson with blood. I look around me, but it is so difficult to keep my eyes open, that I quickly shut them. Thinking about it in retrospect, I think I did good. Yes, I definitely think I did good.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there you go.<strong>  
><strong>Almost as long as the last one. ;)<strong>

**Way, way, way late. I am so sorry. Honestly, I am.**  
><strong>Nanowrimo just got a bit in the way of things and, well, there you go.<strong>

**But! Next chapter will be the final chapter. A sequel is planned and slightly written, because I couldn't help myself. But if you enjoyed this story I am almost certain that you will also enjoy the sequel.**

**There is just one thing I'd like to ask you all. It's something I've been mulling over in my head, and really can't find an answer to.**  
><strong>In the end, did Hitomi really help Itachi? Or did she just make it even more difficult for him to leave?<strong>  
><strong>So, did she change him for the better or for the worse?<strong>  
><strong>I have really been wondering about this, because I originally wrote Hitomi as a means to deal with my Itachi-Feels, which I had absolutely no control over after he died. It was awful. Anyway, thanks for reading this, and I would love to hear your opinions on the matter.<strong>

**x, Faith Bell.**


	15. Hitomi Hyuuga

'How many Uchiha's did you kill?' Ibiki asked me, a cold, dead look to his eyes. I'd lost count of the questions I'd been asked, but I kept answering them as honestly as I could, - 'None,' I told him, rolling my eyes, 'I just finished of one ROOT guy, when he tried striking Itachi in the back,' que accusing look at mirror, behind which I knew the village elders were watching carefully, 'Call it a strong moral principle, if you will.' I told him, a sloppy grin making it's way onto my face. The interrogator just glared at me, and the questioning continued. After another two hours I'd had more than enough of it.

'What information on Konoha did you provide to the Akatsuki?' was the current one. Saying I hadn't given them any at all would have seemed a bit odd, even if it was more or less true. I groaned out loud. 'God, Ibiki, I've had more than enough of this. I want to see the Hokage. Now.' Ibiki narrowed his eyes at me in a threatening manner, and to be honest, it sent shivers down my spine. He was about to say something, when he was cut off by a loud bang from the door. Tsunade walked through it. 'It's fine, Ibiki-san,' she told him, 'you may go now.' Ibiki glared at Tsunade, glared a bit more at me, then proceeded to glare at the door, and finally, left. The whole room was quiet until there was another loud bang, signalling that Ibiki had left the interrogation quarters.

'Well, well,' I said, glancing at her, 'Who else is watching us? Just out of curiosity.' I asked her. Tsunade frowned at me, made a handgesture to the two ANBU accompanying her, who both left after a few questioning looks. 'Just Danzou, - and -.' 'Right.' I said, the grin sliding of my face, and lifting myself into an upright position. 'In that case, it is good to see you and the rest of this village are doing well, Tsunade-sama.' The Hokage flashed a quick, wary smile again, that vanished almost as soon as it had appeared. She obviously didn't like being in this situation. I couldn't blame her. This was not something she had decided, this was not her fault. This was just something dumped on top of her as soon as she took on the responsibility of becoming the leader of the Village Hidden in the Leafs.

'You must understand,' she started, 'that I will not be able to let you go freely, after everything that happened. I'm sorry.' I sighed and dipped my head slightly, not that I hadn't been expecting this, but still. It wasn't a very nice thing to hear. 'I understand,' I said, my voice taking on the cold monotone edge it always had when I was talking to Pein - or Madara - in the Akatsuki. Tsunade nodded at me, and I was sure I could see pity flashing in her eyes. She was about to leave, when I called out, 'Hokage-sama,' she stopped and turned around, facing me questioningly, 'Before I... Was captured by Kakashi, a member of the Akatsuki "warned" me, that Konoha would be attacked soon. I do not know any details or the scale of this attack, I only know that it will happen.' She nodded at me, 'Thank you.' she said, before leaving quickly.

I didn't blame her. I would have been glad to get out of here, if our roles had been reversed. I was the evidence of a crime - so to speak - that couldn't be erased. No one really wanted to face me, or have to deal with me, I was just there. I sighed and slumped back in my chair. I hoped Ibiki wouldn't bother me for a while, so I could at least get a little rest. More or less. I thought of Neji, almost wistfully. How I wished that I could speak to him, embrace him, how I wish that I had never left Konoha. That I had never met Itachi. That everything would be so much less painful. I quickly shut my eyes, willing the tears back. I would not show my weakness in front of those stupid elders. I knew my allegiance was supposed to be to them, but apart form Madara, I don't think there was anyone I hated more.

By the time night had fallen, I was still sitting in the interrogation room and it was getting awfully cold. Trying to suppress a shudder, I looked around the room. It was just steel and metal. That, and a mirror, but that didn't help suppress the claustrophobic feeling the room gave off at all. I closed my eyes briefly. I had to get out of here. I couldn't stand this. I had to get out. Maybe I could find out more about the attack on Konoha. I had to. I slowly stood up. Tsunade had ordered the ANBU away from my room, under the pretence that there were ANBU ROOT watching me. They, in turn, thought there were ANBU watching me. It was nice of her to trust me enough to at least give me a bit of privacy. And I had to break that trust... I really was an awful person.

Making my way out of Konoha was ridiculously easy. As soon as I had left the interrogation room, which hadn't been locked - this made me feel even worse about breaking the Hokage's trust - I transported myself a good distance away, to one of my seals. I landed on the ground panting slightly. For some reason I was feeling really dizzy, and my chakra supply seemed... Too small. While I kept panting slightly with the effort of it, I quickly walked up a tree, and settled in one of the top branches. As soon as I sat down, I realised what was wrong with me. I was just so incredibly tired. So much had happened in such a short space of time, and I hadn't - not once - had time to rest. Maybe I had been able to sit down in Ibiki's torture chamber, but you couldn't really count that as rest, anyway. Sighing, I closed my eyes and forced my mind away from it all, what - with the fog of sleep hanging over my brain - was surprisingly easy.

The next day was awful. I had woken up with a start, to realise that the place I had chosen to teleport myself to, was in the country of snow. How I'd missed this fact was a bit of a mystery to me and I was thankful that I hadn't encountered any rouge nins of sorts. In my sleep drunken state yesterday, a small group of genins probably wouldn't have had the most difficult time taking me out. I dropped out of my tree, wincing as my almost frozen feet hit the snowy ground. It hurt like hell. I quickly concentrated my chakra and teleported to an other - quite random - wood. At least it wasn't cold.

After trying to, quite unsuccessfully, warm myself with a couple of fire jutsu, I'd just been wandering around really. Emotionless, numb. I didn't want to feel anything. I couldn't let myself anything. If I did, I was afraid I would die. Fall apart from pure sorrow, grief, pain and any and every other negative emotion I could think of. It wasn't dying physically, as in a heart that stopped beating, so much as die emotionally. Just lose the capability to feel. It was overwhelming, and it scared me. It honestly scared me. I hadn't thought that losing Itachi would cause me so much pain, but it did.

I felt like I was suffocating. Suffocating in the very air I was trying to breathe in. Desperately so, as my lungs were screaming for air. I calmed myself down enough to breathe at a somewhat regular pace. No, that wasn't right. I had to stop this. I had to get my head on straight. I was letting my emotions get the best of me, even though I tried to keep them at bay. They just needed to go. All of them, I didn't want to feel. Until I realised that I couldn't. I couldn't do it. I didn't want to do it, and I should not do it. I was hanging, no, clinging on to anything that reminded me or connected me to Itachi. My emotions were a part of that. And finally, I realised what the suffocating feeling was. _Loneliness._

There was no need for me. I was useless. No reason for my existence. Feeling like this, it was something I could not possibly describe. The feeling of not being wanted, not being needed. It was something that hurt so much. I literally felt like my heart was aching. Something fell from the air and hit my head. At the place where the drop had hit me, my hair was slightly damp. More drops fell from the sky. It was raining. I stared at the sky, my gaze slowly settling on a huge cloud of dust. I vaguely wondered what was going on, it didn't really interest me. I started wondering if there was anything that would ever interest me again. Until I realised the cloud was where Konoha was supposed to be.

I started running before I even consciously realised what I was doing, and somehow it felt like I was tearing free from the numbness I had been feeling. It left me raw, aching painfully all over. It didn't matter, Konoha was all that mattered now. I _was_ a shinobi from Konoha after all. My will of fire was something I would always have. That's when I realised, while I was running as fast as my legs would carry me, it was not the end. It hurt so, so much, but I survived. I would go on. Even if it was without Itachi, I would always continue to protect Konoha. It was my duty. The one reason I was still alive.

How would I get into the village, though? If something big was happening, I would never make it in time by just running. Besides, they would probably be on high alert and without Itachi I couldn't enter unnoticed. I had never been part of ANBU after all.

Then it hit me. Kakashi's kitchen cupboard, second from the right. I performed the jutsu without even really having to think about it. My surroundings shifted and I closed my eyes as the ground whooshed away from under my feet.

When it felt I was standing on solid ground again, I opened my eyes. Coughing from the dust, I looked around. This wasn't Konoha. It _couldn't_ be Konoha. I was crouching on the ground, my hand on a dislocated cupboard door that was only just recognisable amongst other rubble. Slightly panicked, I activated my Byakugan, a tear leaking out of my eyes as I realised that this in fact, _was_ Konoha. Why did the world seem intent on taking everything I held dear away from me? What had I done to deserve this? Why did my life have to be so terribly fucked up?

I didn't dwell on self-pity, though. Neji. I had to find Neji. He had to be okay, he _had_ to be okay. More tears leaked out of my eyes as I started searching franticly for my brother. I didn't find him. What I did see however, made my breath catch. It made my stomach dissolve. I was surprised that even after everything that had happened, I was still capable of feeling this sort of shock. It was in some way a relief. A confirmation that whatever happened, I would be able to get over it.

I didn't dwell on it and forced my legs to move faster than they should. I could not care less. I just had to make it in time, because he couldn't be dead. He _couldn't be. _But my Byakugan didn't lie. There was no chakra flow, he couldn't live without a chakra flow. 'Come on!' I urged myself on, not even noticing that I'd shouted out loud.

Someone came up behind me and started pursuing me, trying to attack. The Akatsuki jacket must have had somewhat of a bad influence. That's when I realised what this was. This was the attack Madara had told me about. I had been warned about this, I should have been able to stop this. But right now I didn't care, I just kept on running, because I had to reach him in time. Because he wasn't- he couldn't be gone.

And there he was. The feeling of shock worsened when I saw his lifeless form. No, 'No!' The sound ripped from my throat, hurting me. I didn't care. This wasn't right. It just couldn't be right. The shinobi pursuing me stopped to watch what I was doing in absolute bemusement.

I blasted the rubble surrounding him out of the way and lay him on the ground gently. I stared at both his closed eyes as more tears streamed out of mine. Pouring down my cheeks and dropping onto his body. His corps. Frantically searching for a heartbeat I knew wouldn't be there. 'No, no, no,' the words tumbled out of my mouth over and over again as I tried to do anything I could to restore his chakra. But I knew that even if I did succeed in doing that, he was gone, he wouldn't come back. If I wanted to admit it to myself or not.

I started sobbing louder as my tears fell on his grey, gravity-defying hair. My finger started tracing the scar on his left eye. Obito's eye. Obito, who'd once been the Uchiha I liked most. And then I saw something sticking out of his pocket. The green cover of a book. That hideous book of his. With trembling hands I grabbed the book sticking out of his pocket. It was the volume I had written in all that time ago. I could see marks on the back of how many times he had opened it. Had he really thought about me that much? I opened the page and stared at the faded words I had written all those years ago, not being able to read them through the tears that were steadily streaming down my cheeks.

To my surprise, at the bottom of the page, Kakashi had written more words. Three of them, to be precise. I wiped the tears out of my eyes and I read what Kakashi had never been able to tell me. And it hurt so much. I froze and the book fell out of my hands. And I screamed. I screamed until my throat got hoarse and painful. I broke out into sobs. Uncontrollable sobs as I clutched his chest. 'You can't be dead.' I told him, barely managing to get the words out. 'You can't be.'

But everyone was gone now. _Everyone_ was gone. A hopelessness that I had never felt before overtook me. Swallowed me up, took over all of my senses. I collapsed onto the ground, for the first time in my life truly feeling nothing at all. _Numb_.

Until I heard a furious scream. I slowly and almost unconsciously focussed my Byakugan on the direction the scream had come from. Someone was pinned to the ground. I couldn't see who it was, the chakra rods used to pin the person to the ground made it impossible to focus. Another person was standing next to him, _Pein._

Feelings slowly re-entered my body and I had never felt so relieved. Even though it had been a short period of time, I never wanted to feel that lifeless again. Anger took over my senses as I realised why the person pinned to the ground had screamed. There was a third person. A third person who was heavily injured. _Hinata._ My _cousin_ Hinata. And all I could feel was Hatred. Pure Hatred.

That made me realise, I had been stupid, blind. There were people left, of course there were. _My family._ With a new surge of energy I ran forwards. My pursuer was gone. He'd probably thought he could be of better use than watching some broken down, deranged Akatsuki member cry over a dead body. No, don't think about that. Focus.

'Damn it, there's another one!' Naruto groaned out, when I already was within earshot. Everyone in the small clearing - for lack of a better word - stared at me. 'Hitomi-san,' Pein started, 'I hadn't expected to see you here. I was under the impression you'd left us after Itachi-san died.' His words ripped at my heart, but I suppressed the feeling and glared at Pein, 'Don't think for one moment I'm here to assist you, you bastard. I'm here because you did something I cannot forgive. You hurt my family.'

Pein raised an eyebrow at my statement, obviously not very impressed and turned away from me. 'You'll have to wait for a moment, Hitomi-san, I'm not quite finished with her yet.' He told me as he continued towards Hinata and made to attack her.

I moved as quickly as my body allowed, jumping in front of the attack, but I didn't have enough time to counter. Before I could do anything my body was flung against a rock. I managed to flip over before I hit the ground and landed on my feet, but I couldn't stop the pain that came with being smashed into a rock. 'You've always been a bit persistent, haven't you?' I forced my feet to move until I stood in front of him again. 'You won't hurt my family anymore.' I spat at him. Pein ignored what I'd said and attacked me again, but this time I did manage to counter, dissolving his attack into pure chakra, something Itachi had taught me. I felt another painful jerk at my heart at the thought of him, so I quickly focussed on Pein again.

Pein let out an irritable sigh and used the same attack again. I used the same defence, but this time I felt a strong and very painful pull on my chakra supply. As I let out a pained breath, I realised that I was almost out of chakra, continuing this would result in my death. A fact that was difficult to face, but I knew it was true. I could feel it. It surged through me as what was left of my survival instinct screamed at me to run. To stop. To run and fight another day. However difficult it was, I ignored this and glared at Pein. 'You won't touch Hinata-sama.'

'Hitomi, stop it.' I turned around to stare at Naruto in surprise, 'What?' I asked in an out of breath, yet still surprised voice, 'I don't know why you're doing this, but if you continue, you're going to die.' It was silent for a while as I looked at Naruto, in his helpless position. At Hinata, knocked out on the ground, still bleeding a bit. And finally at Konoha, the village I grew up in. The village I wanted to protect. The village I loved with all my being. The village I had failed to protect.

'Yeah,' I answered Naruto, 'Yeah. I'm... I'll die.' I said in a slightly bemused voice, only fully realising it as I said those words and noticing, to my surprise, I wasn't afraid. As I realised that, I made a rapid - and very reckless - decision. I turned towards Pein, who was just watching us. 'Yes, I am going to die. It doesn't matter, though. I protected this village, I did my duty. And... Itachi is gone... Kakashi is gone... I can't find Neji anywhere. Konoha is in ruins. Just, let my last action be useful and... Don't- don't you dare forget what Itachi did for... everyone.' I said, even though I knew I shouldn't. With that out of my lips an off of my heart, I jumped at Pain, managing to push the pressure points beside his right eye, using the last of my chakra to disable his chakra-flow. I was thrown away, but before I closed my eyes, I could see the Rin'negan fade from his right eye.

I hit the ground hard, but I was too tired to open my eyes and see where I'd landed. 'H-Hitomi, why?' I heard Naruto's pained voice very close to my ear. Ah, so that was where I was lying. 'Well,' I said in a broken, raw sounding voice, 'I promised your father that I'd protect you.' I could hear him gasp in surprise. 'M-my father?!' I would have answered him, I would have explained, but I knew I didn't have enough energy, enough time, left to do that.

'N-Naruto, just-' I interrupted myself by coughing up a warm liquid that slowly dripped down my chin onto my neck. 'just tell him-' I coughed again, feeling weaker and worse than I had ever in my entire life. 'tell Neji, I- I love him.' And with those words finally past lips, I let out what was to be my final breath.

And I realised how Itachi had done it. Spoken about death, in the calm way that he had. Because, I wasn't afraid right now. I wanted to embrace the darkness, the numbness. I wanted to see those I loved again. Neji, Kakashi, but most of all, Itachi. And I realised that that was what Itachi had wanted most as well. To see his family again. To explain what he had done, and why he had done it. He wanted forgiveness. Forgiveness. The word sounds so kind. It was what I wanted as well. Forgiveness. From my father, my mother, Minato, Obito, Kakashi... But most of all, I wanted forgiveness from Neji. Forgiveness for all the terrible things I had put him through. For how I had made him suffer. Yes, such a kind word.

In the end, what I wanted most of all - what we all want most of all - is forgiveness.

* * *

><p>Hey guys,<p>

So, there it is. God, I can't believe it's done. So strange... Although, there is going to be a sequel, which I am really looking forwards to!

About this chapter, god, it took such long time. I've written it, rewritten it and then erased it all at least three times, to joke. Honestly... I have to say, I think the chapter is best the way it is now. It's been a lot longer, like at least a thousand words so, but I kept thinking, from Hitomi's point of view, it would have one way fast. You know, like this unrealistic thing where everything sort of whizzes past and you don't actually really have the time to comprehend all of it. To keep track of what happened. So, yeah, that's why this chapter is a bit fast paced.

Soo~ about the sequel! I don't know exactly when I'll be posting the first chapter, seeing as I'm probably going to be getting a bit busy over the next couple of weeks, but I'll try my hardest! I do have a couple of questions about what you would like to happen in the sequel, though. A reviewer asked me if there would be any more oc's, for instance, a different one for Kakashi, or if it would be just Hitomi.

So my question: would you like there to be more oc's? If so, and you want to, you are allowed to review me an oc (haha, okay, that sounds weird) and if I do decide to use one, it might be yours! Also, if you have any further suggestions about the relationship between Hitomi and other characters, or maybe a new oc and other characters, or about where the plot is going, or where you would like it to go, just leave a review with your opinion!

I hope a fair few of you will do this, since I really don't have a lot of ideas where the plot will be going. That's another question:

'Would you like the story to stick close to the canon plot, or would you like it to create it's own plot?'

Something I have been wondering about a lot, so, er... Just leave a review and we'll see!

Also, I want to thank everyone so much for sticking with me throughout this story. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing on it, it's been great!

Thank you,

x Faith Bell


	16. Author's Note

Hey guys,

Just wanted to let you all know that the first chapter of 'When We Went Wrong' the sequel to this story, is up!  
>Quick, I know. Hope you all enjoy it!<p>

- Faith Bell


End file.
